An Old Friend
by mistyblue814
Summary: On a mission to Denon, Rex with a small group of clones get separated from the battlefield. Before getting destroyed by droids, a hooded figure with white lightsabers rescues them and Rex soon learns what happened to Ahsoka and meets the new group that she is with.
1. Part 1

**Author's Note:** **Hi everyone! This is my first Star Wars: The Clone Wars fic so tell me what you think. This takes place about five to six months after Ahsoka left the Jedi Temple. I plan on making a second chapter that would take place after Order 66, but so far this part sets that one up. Also, please don't comment on how my story is different from the now canon idea. This is my idea, I know it will be different from what Filoni made and nothing is as good, but please enjoy anyway!**

"Captain, I can't get in contact with General Koon." Fives told Rex, "my comlink broke in the blast, that or it was fried by the Seps."

"Mine too, sir." Rooney answered, helping Jesse stay up on his bad leg.

Rex looked down at his own comlink as he heard a blast, the ground shaking again with another blast. Part of the Torrent Company went in with General Koon and the Wolf Pack to help stop a Separatist invasion of Denon. They were waiting for more back up with General Secura and Bly's Company but there have also been some air attacks. They were more outnumbered than they imagined, but Rex knew that the gap would be closing in and the Generals were more concerned about the damage being done to the planet. There were many civilian casualties as the Separatists bombed a part of the city, creating a sense of terrorism so that they would give in.

During one of the attacks a bomb separated him and a small group of other clones from the others. Jesse had landed in a wrong way on his leg, making it twist in an unnatural way that he could barely stand on his own. And the new rookie Blue got hit the worse, the blast and being hit with debris breaking through his armour and created a large wound on his shoulder and part of his upper chest. Another rookie Rooney was helping him stay up as they saw blood slowly come down his armour. Now they were trying to get in contact with Wolfe as they were basically hoarded into an alleyway. Blue was going to need medical attention and Jesse couldn't do much until his leg was set right. That left him, Tags, Fives, Rooney and Aytes to try and get them out of there, but against a wall of debris they knew that they would have to go around back ways blindly and Rex didn't like that idea either.

"Mine's not that much help either." Rex commented, looking at them. He picked up a blaster from the ground as he heard Fives mutter, "fine mess we've gotten ourselves into."

Rex answered, "We're going to have to keep moving, try and head south to get back onto our lines."

"Yes, sir!" they answered.

Aytes moved on the other side of Jessie so that they could move faster. Fives went first and Rex watched as the others followed. He took one last look around before following to make sure that no one was following them.

The group had only gone down a couple of roads before they heard metallic clanking on the ground in a unified form. Rex, Fives, and Tags quickly turned around, seeing a group of thirty or so droids coming down the road, another blast quickly shaking the earth for another couple of minutes.

"Clankers!" Rex shouted, "get down!"

Looking around quickly as they saw the blasters come flying past their heads. Quickly going down another alleyway there were some trash bins they could hide behind. After Blue and Jesse were sitting behind each one, they got out their blasters and tried to aim as well as they could as the other five clones tried to use smaller bins to take shelter from as they tried blasting the droids. Rex grit his teeth, avoiding a shot as he watched another droid fall from one of their blasters. More droids were coming closer than they were going down.

"Commander?" Tags called, asking for more direction.

"Hold your ground as best you can! If we run we won't get far." Rex answered. If needed they could attack the droids with their hands but that would be more dangerous. But Rex was put into a corner. They would not get far with Jesse and Blue needing assistance.

The droids were coming close. Rex gritted his teeth, trying to think of what they could do. He didn't want them to condemn these men to death at the hands of droids, but they couldn't run either, at least not without leaving Blue and Jesse and he wouldn't do that.

As Rex was quickly trying to assess the situations they could make, watching some droids fall at the hands of their blasters. He heard something fall behind him. Before he had any time to turn around, someone in a brown hood rushed past them from behind. Still running, the clones watched the mysterious person take out two lightsabers, white light piercing the dark alleyway as they sliced through the droids. She could tell it was a woman by how she moved. And she had a tall head, or something to hold her hood up a little high. The clones stood in awe for a moment, watching the creature. As Rex watched, seeing some uncanny familiarity as the person moved.

"Who the…" Rooney commented, surprised.

"Lets just be glad she's on our side!" Rex answered, bringing himself back to reality and firing again.

The mysterious fighter quickly went through the droids, their bodies clinking the ground and echoing in their ears. When the clones saw the last one fall by her hand, they stood still, their blasters now aimed at her, just in case. People weren't just supposed to have lightsabers and run around cities. Even though they weren't red, he didn't want to take the chance that it was someone bad. Rex saw the lightsabers go off and the woman put them at her belt again.

All of them stiffened as the person turned around, looking at the clones before taking down her hood as she said in a joking voice, "Honestly I would have thought that in the months I was gone you boys would be better at hitting your targets and staying out of trouble."

Rex didn't know what shocked him first: the voice or her face. When they saw the face under the hood, all of the clones stood there in shock. Rex felt as though his heart had stopped beating in shock, his hands went numb and he was surprised that his gun didn't fall out of his hands. The others felt the same. Fives looked as though he was seeing a ghost. But to them she was.

Rex gulped and stuttered out, the arm holding his blaster going to his side. He stared at her and asked, "C-Commander Tano."

The orange Togruta gave him a wider smile, "it's just Ahsoka now, Rex."

She looked…partially different. She had gotten a little taller in the past seven months. It might also be a small trick though, because he could see that her montrals were a little taller. Her lekku were longer too. And her facial markings had gotten more elongated slightly to go with her face as it grew. Rex knew that she would look different but…it was a weird feeling. He had seen her grow for three years and he didn't really notice it until he thought about it then. Now it was almost staring him in the face.

She wore a long brown cloak that covered most of her, but with it more open now Rex cold see her in a green shirt with a diamond neckline. She also wore some type of gold belt that held up her black skirt. Her legs were protected by black leggings as well and combat boots completed her look

"Ah-Ahsoka." Fives stuttered out.

She offered him a smile before telling them all, "it's good to see you all too."

There was another sudden boom, maybe five blocks away. Another one followed it, slightly farther away. Ahsoka immediately frowned as she looked up at the sky, noting how it was starting to get dark. Ahsoka turned back to them and told the clones, "come with me. I know a place you can stay."

"Com-Ahsoka we have to get back to battle." Rex said, his hands still shaking slightly. After she left the clones had gave in to the thought that they would never see their Togruta Commander again.

That old Commander shook her head and explained, "they are making a crescent around you. They've cut off everything this way, you'd have to go way out to avoid them. There's nothing you can do about it, at least not in the dark. With all of the buildings being knocked out I can't even lead you there I don't know what the streets are like."

Ahsoka looked at the two injured clones and told the group, "besides they can get medical help. Tomorrow you can get going back, after the Separatists have started the plan about where they stop and close in, but right now you'd just commit suicide trying to get back in!"

The clones stared at her. There was a sense of following her command still installed in them. There was their hope for her still installed in them.

Ahsoka heard another bomb, this one getting closer by maybe a block. They had to get going before more droids came, maybe even tanks. And she didn't want to leave them but other people on this planet needed her too, people who were a lot more helpless than them. She turned back to them again and said, "Rex, come on! I can get you help! I have to get back home and I can take you but if we are going to go then we need to hurry! What other choice do you have?"

They stared at her and she gulped, trying to think of what to do. Ahsoka could feel the pit in her stomach of being with them again, that good but horrible feeling. Good to see them again, but bad that she left them. When she had been trying to get back home with no luck of survivors she heard the old familiar blasters and decided to take a look. She knew the clones immediately and before Ahsoka knew it, she was running to their aid. She wouldn't let them die and she knew if she left them then they would have.

"Rex, do you trust me?" Ahsoka asked desperately.

The Commander stared at her before turning to the others, seeing their faces. As shocked as they were, he knew their thoughts. It was thoughts that they had never doubted even during the trial. They knew she was innocent. You don't lose faith in people who have saved your life more times then you would care to admit.

"If course, Ahsoka." Rex answered, Fives nodding.

"Then come with me! We're going to need to hurry!" Ahsoka told them, going to help Fives with Blue. Rex and Aytes helped Jesse while Ahsoka looked around before saying, "follow me. I'll go as fast as we can. We have a bit of a walk."

The clones nodded. Ahsoka had one of Blue's arms around her shoulders and they walked at a certain pace, going not too fast but not slow either. They all knew that unless they wanted to get ambushed again then they had to get moving away from the war zone. Ahsoka moved them down more alleyways.

"How far do we have, Ahsoka?" Rex asked.

"At the rate we are going, about a forty minute walk. But you'll be safe for the night." Ahsoka answered, stopping at the edge of an alleyway and turning right. She didn't like how they still had their armour on. The locals would see them and have fear around here, and they stuck out, but she knew that they needed it. Once they got to her neighbourhood it would be even quieter, people might get suspicious and scared, but it would be dark then and hopefully they could sneak well enough to stay hidden, even if people were looking out their windows for stragglers.

Fives looked over at her and asked, "were exactly are we going?"

"There is a group system going in place on the planet. When the Separatists started to attack people came in to save others, help others go on the run. There is a housing network where people can go to stay the night to get to hotels that are offering rooms for free, to other family members, things like that. They stay for a night, get some rest and food and then can get going again in the morning to a directory to another house. The place I am taking us to is one of those places." Ahsoka answered them, helping Blue stand, "and the people have good medical experience."

"They're welcoming clones?" Rex asked, surprised.

Ahsoka turned down another alleyway, the clones following her. She answered, not looking back at them, "they will be. Trust me when I say that you can trust them. They'll help you."

The clones looked at each other with slight confusion before Tags shrugged. Fives looked at Blue and saw him getting slower. He looks past him at Ahsoka and tells her, "I'll carry him."

"I'm fine." Blue groaned.

"Shut up." Fives grumbled, "we'll also go faster this way."

Ahsoka nodded and helped Fives take Blue on his back. After making sure he was steady she looked back at the others and looked up at the sky. The sound of the bombs was farther away, but it was also getting darker. It would be easier to stay hidden, but she knew that the others would be worrying about her. She knew not to be gone this long and even if the others knew that Ahsoka could handle her own, they would still worry that something happened.

Rex could tell that she was getting a little nervous as she looked up. He wanted to ask, but knew that she wouldn't answer him truthfully anyway. So, he let it go and helped Jesse as Ahsoka walked ahead at a slightly faster pace. Most of the time they were quiet, not wanting to draw any attention to themselves. The clones could tell by Ahsoka's haste and cautious movements that they did have to be careful not to be seen. She was looking around often, as though making sure no one was around. It confused Rex slightly since they had left the war zone a while back, but she knew something he did not and with that Rex knew that he had to trust her.

It was an odd feeling just being near the old Commander. After General Skywalker told him that she had left and the position of Commander went back to him, he had grown into the idea that he would never see her again. But even just being near her again was a sense of familiarity that Rex already knew he was going to miss when he and the rest of the clones went back to fighting in the battle.

It was completely dark, the moons coming out when Ahsoka told them quietly, "it's not too far now, only a couple of blocks or so. You all still with me?"

She looked back at them and Rooney grinned, "we came this far."

Ahsoka smirked as well before giving them a single nod. She turned back in front of her and went to the end of the alleyway before looking around. She tells them, "from here on out we have to be a little quick, but still quiet. We'll be on the more open roads."

They nodded and she looked at them all once more before she led them on again. Rex looked around as they walked at a slightly faster pace. There were normal suburban like houses. They were from what looked like buildings made from rock, yet looked beautiful and sturdy. He could also tell that they were old, but they fit their purpose. They were rather large as well, some three stories high. Maybe they weren't meant to be simple family houses but elegant apartments. Or perhaps they used to be for the rich way back in the history of Denon.

Ahsoka led them straight down a couple of blocks before making them turn right at a corner and they went down almost five blocks before she stopped. During that time she was looking around more rapidly to make sure they were not spotted. Most of the lights in the houses were out but whatever she was hoping to hide from, they were still out in the open.

Rex looked at the house that she stopped at. It was two stories high, the top story significantly smaller than the bottom story, but through dark red curtains Rex could still see that lights were on. The house was white stone, smooth, old, and beautiful and was still a significant size. Ahsoka sighed and walked up the front steps to the front door. The clones followed, taking the injured clones carefully up the stairs.

Looking around once at the top for good measure, Ahsoka knocked a five-beat different paced rhythm on the door. After a couple of seconds the door opened and the clones had to squint from the new bright light.

Rex saw a yellow Twi'lek open the door. At first glance she looked eighteen, maybe nineteen. She looked at Ahsoka with a smile of relief, "oh Ahsoka we were starting to get worried…"

Ahsoka gave her a smile, but the Twi'lek looked over her shoulder and saw the clones. Ahsoka looked over at them herself a little before she said, "I…had to pick up some people."

The Twi'lek stared at them before someone else came to the door: a human male who was maybe twenty-four with short black hair but a gentle face.

"Ahsoka, what took you so long?" he asked before he too saw the clones and that sudden gentle face went dark, his eyebrows furrowing, "you've got to be kidding me."

"Ahsoka do you know how dangerous it was to bring them here?" the Twi'lek asked.

The Togruta defended, "they would have died! I wouldn't leave them. And they need help. Two of them need medical attention."

"They are participants in war, not innocents." the boy answered, "especially after everything that happened—."

Ahsoka cut him off abruptly, "I understand your concern but they needed help. And that's what we do is it not? And of everyone _I_ brought them here."

The Twi'lek stared at the clones, looking over the two with injuries. There was conflicting in her expression and Rex knew it well. She was weighing pros and cons about them. Ahsoka told her, "Shay, they need help. I never closed my door and neither have you. I hope we don't start now."

Both of them stared at her before the Twi'lek looked at the clones. After a couple of seconds he sighed, "you're going to have to explain it to Tilly then, and before she punches one of them preferably."

The Twi'lek moved in but the male human stayed at the side of the door. Ahsoka went up to him and whispered something before he looked at Rex and rolled his eyes before leaving and muttering, "I'll get Todem."

Once he was gone, she looked back at them and said, "come on." She looked around as they followed her instructions. When they all managed to get inside, Ahsoka shut and locked the door behind them.

Rex took a quick look at his surroundings, a natural instinct from the war whenever they went into an unknown place. The walls around him were homy. He could see a kitchen off to one side with the rest of the room being a large live-in area. The kitchen walls were white yellow that somehow blended in with the light green on the walls of the sitting area. He saw a couple of couches and a kitchen table, some type of entertainment area and artwork on the walls.

"There is a back door, a basement getaway door, and in a worse case scenario there are windows." Ahsoka told him, knowing what the clones were doing when they were looking around. They wanted to know different ways to get out other than the front door if they needed to quickly leave.

Rex looked back at her and nodded, taking off his helmet. The other clones did the same out of respect before Shay took out some bottles of water from the fridge. She held them in her arms before she handed them to the clones, "here. Make yourself…comfortable."

The Twi'lek's nose twitched in disgust a little bit from the last word before they turned when they saw another Togruta come into the room, this one a male. He was about the height of the clones and had red skin like Master Shaak Ti. He had horizontal ovals over his eyes that went to his ears and smaller circles across his forehead and down his nose. He looked very gentle as well, more peaceful than the male they had met before. He had horns that went out a little, but they were tall and thick with splotches of brown on the white.

He looked immediately at the injured clones before saying, "lay him on the couch."

Another human male, this one with dark skin, came behind him with a pack, setting it down before helping Jesse sit in a chair, letting it sit on the coffee table to keep it up. The Togruta helped Fives set Blue down on the couch. He told him, opening the pack, "I used to be a doctor, Captain Rex. I'll take care of him."

All of the clones stood up straighter in surprise.

"How…?" Rex began to ask before the Twi'lek answered from behind him, her arms crossed.

"You're the only ones who would trust Ahsoka enough to come here. And we see the Captain's helmet." she answered, still not looking impressed that they were in their home.

Rex saw the other boy come back, this time with two others, another male, this one with blonde hair and a girl with dark brown hair who looked intimidating for one even smaller than Ahsoka. Maybe it was because she had arm muscles that even most rookie clones didn't have yet. And she had a burning anger in her eyes look at them.

"Ahsoka bringing them here was dangerous." the other girl answered, "not just for us but for you."

"I wouldn't leave them." Ahsoka insisted, defending herself and the others, "the Separatists blocked them completely off. There wasn't a way to get them back. And Blue and Jesse were hurt. I wasn't going to leave them."

"You shouldn't have gotten involved," the other girl insisted.

"You don't need to protect me anymore." Ahsoka answered, her voice hard and unrelenting.

Rex stared at her. There were many in the small area and it was crowded and with the tensions running high between the others it seemed more stifling than it might have been. The Twi'lek sighed and answered, "Ahsoka is right. They were injured and didn't have anywhere to go. And if Ahsoka allowed them here then I trust them too."

"Doesn't mean I have to. Doesn't mean I've forgotten." The brunette hissed.

"Please do. For tonight at least." Ahsoka answered desperately.

The Twi'lek came forward and answered, "take a seat. Any of your coms working?"

The Twi'lek crossed in front of them and went down a small hallway and into a room before Rex answered, "no, Sir. We were in a blast and all of them got destroyed."

"Take them off," they heard the Twi'lek answer, "all of them. I'll take a look."

She came back with a rather large tech tool kit. Rex raised and eyebrow and looked at Ahsoka. She told him, "Shay's pretty amazing at mechanics and tech. If they can be used at all she'll make them work."

The clones nodded, all but Blue taking off his as the other Togruta was looking at his wounds and helping him out of his armour. The Twi'lek sat at the table, opening the kit before taking all of the comlinks. She stared at each of them for a moment before she set them on the table, "they're pretty beaten up, but I think I can manage." She was already lost in concentration as she began to quickly take one apart. Rex and Aytes watched in amazement at how fast her hands were working before they heard Ahsoka say, "seriously, boys, sit down."

"We already ate without you," the first male they met commented to Ahsoka, "but the leftovers are in there. Should be enough for all of you."

She nodded, going through some cupboards. Awkwardly, the clones looked around and found chairs to sit at. It felt…uncomfortable sitting down in this place that they knew they weren't wanted in, but it felt like they had to follow the orders of Ahsoka again.

Rex looked over his shoulder and saw that there was one cupboard completely full of containers of different foods, all stored nicely but…there was just so much. Ahsoka took out a couple before heating them and finding plates.

"How far out did they get now?" the one helping Jesse asked.

"They aren't really heading west now, they're going north. I think they are trying to get around the clone army." Ahsoka answered, her back still to them, "they're cutting them off."

"That's how they caught you then?" The male Togruta asked.

"Yeah, we got caught in a blast." Fives answered, "we got split from our team…if any of them are still alive."

They heard something hit the counter, maybe a plate being set down too harshly. Everyone looked over at Ahsoka who was now frozen for a couple of seconds before they saw her go back to spreading the food from the containers. They all knew better than to ask, and the second female said to bring attention away from Ahsoka: "do you at all know what they are heading for?"

"Us…now at least." Rex answered.

"There is nothing north for them to really want." the blonde male said, standing beside the other female.

"No there isn't. The library was what I thought they were going to, but they changed their course. And they wouldn't make that drastic of a change even for the new army, they would just spread it out more but still stay on their target." the first male said.

"Then what exactly are they searching for. A terror campaign is one, but if they really wanted that there would have been more destruction." the brunette said, "especially if they wanted to get the attention of the Republic."

"We can contact Trennoy tomorrow, tell him that the civilians will most likely be going in a new direction and towards him so he can set up more houses for the network. Then a new map setting can come out about where they are. From the eastern side Viscada and Armella can look on the eastern side to see how far north they are there." Shay said, not looking up.

"Either way, I'll contact him, let him know about the changes." Ahsoka said, moving towards the table with plates of food in her hands, "at any rate they are bigger now."

"Of course it has. Two armies are going at it now." Shay replied, still not looking up as she already took apart two comlinks.

Ahsoka didn't reply before setting the plates down, "eat. Todem is a good cook. But I guess anything are better than those ration bars."

The clones were surprised about the plate full of different foods. After Ahsoka gave Jesse and Blue a plate as well, though she doubted Blue would be able to eat much with Todem working on him, but it was worth the effort. Ahsoka had already turned back to the counters and sat up on the edge of one before grabbing a plate herself when Rex had gotten out of the shock. She looked around and commented, "I should have done this before. Everyone this is Rex, Fives, Rooney, Aytes, Jesse, Tags and Blue," Ahsoka pointed to each of the clones as she introduced them before continuing, "and these are my roommates Todem Wherle, Pash Demari, Bellamy and Tilly Callabri, and Shay Whenna. And that's our friend, and Tilly's boyfriend Thayer. He lives behind us."

Ahsoka pointed to all of them as well and Rex nodded, "thank you all."

Tilly began to roll her eyes before her brother elbowed her.

"Sir…this is quite much. We don't need all of this." Rooney commented.

"I think I'll agree with Rooney on this," Fives agreed.

Ahsoka shook her head and swallowed the food she had been eating, "nonsense. Eat. I know it'll be the best thing you eat until you get back."

Tilly nodded and said, "seriously, she won't stop until you do."

Ahsoka grinned before she began to eat again, settling her empty stomach. The clones all looked at their plates. Rex knew how stubborn she could be and the food did smell good, so he gave in, eating from the plate. The others followed suit. Bellamy looked at the clock on the wall before he said, "I'll start the fire outside, it's too cramped in here."

Ahsoka nodded, "good idea." It would give them the space they would want from the clones.

"You can have fires around here?" Tags asked.

"Our deck outside. That used to be the big common area but it burnt down many many years ago. I think that woman said sixty or seventy. Either way there are some parts of the wall on either side still so you'll be hidden from neighbours still." Bellamy answered.

Rex raised his eyebrow and looked at Ahsoka, "you set fires in a place that was destroyed by one?"

Todem answered with a small smirk, "we like to tempt fate and dance on the gravestones of it."

The clones and the others chuckled before Bellamy said, "I'll start it."

Ahsoka told the clones, "some of the walls are still up so it's hidden. We'll be safe out there."

And she knew that they would have some time to talk.

Todem looked up at the other clones and told them, "he's going to need to lay down. I have painkillers but they'll make you two drowsy."

"I'll take them still." Blue muttered, "not like I'll be much help if anything comes in anyway."

Rex nodded. They would need their rest before somehow getting him back to the battle lines. All of them would need a good rest before going back and they would need it to get Blue and Jesse back.

Ahsoka told them, "they can take my room. They should all be able to fit on the floor."

"Jesse will need a bed too." Pash informed them.

Shay told them, not looking up from the coms she was working on, "take that old press-up bed from my room for when my sister visits."

"And we should have enough extra sleeping bags," Todem agreed, nodding once, "I'll need some help getting him to your room."

"I'll help you bring them." Rex answered.

"Me too." Fives answered, getting up with his Commanding Officer.

Todem nodded, getting up and moving to position Blue so they could pick him up easier. Ahsoka told them, "I'll bring the food out to you two once you are settled."

"Thank you," Blue said before grunting as Rex got on the other side of him and Todem and Rex helped him up. Pash took his legs gently to try and not cause any more pain. Blue grunted again, gritting teeth Ahsoka moved to take their plates, putting them in the kitchen sink before Todem told Rex the instructions so that he knew ahead of time what to do, "we're going to go down that hallway, the second door on the left. It'll be a bit of a hard corner so Pash will go first."

"Fives, Jesse, I'll get the cot so don't follow just yet." Ahsoka told them, setting her plate down and moving before the group of three to go to the room Shay had come from. Todem looked at Rex and he said, "at the count of three."

Rex nodded.

"One…two…" Todem muttered, the three of them got ready to lift, Blue bracing for the pressure on his shoulders.

"Three," the three men said together and lifted Blue from the couch. The injured clone grunted again before the three of them tried to move as fast, yet sturdy as they could as to not cause Blue any more pain. When going past the other room, Rex saw Ahsoka waiting at the door. Pash told them, "go at a bit of an angle now, I'll guide you in."

Rex nodded as he and Todem moved to the one side before Pash looked behind him as they slowly went through the doorway, making sure not to bang Blue against the sides. Once they made it through the doorway, Rex saw the bed and the three of them turned again so that Rex and Todem could was him to the bed in the proper position. They gently lowered Blue down on the red and gold patterned comforter and he let out a sigh, propped up against some pillows. They turned when they saw Ahsoka come in after them, holding up this large rectangular box thing. She set it down on the ground near the large window at the corner of the room in front of a dresser and matching nightstand. She pressed some sort of button and stepped back as the large thing suddenly shot out legs and it went up to about Rex's knee level before it folded out into a mattress and bed. Rex looked at Ahsoka and she shrugged before calling out, "we're ready for Jesse."

Pash and Todem moved out of the way as Fives helped Jesse in. Todem went on the other side, helping him across the room before they helped him sit on the bed and gently bring his leg up.

When the two were settled in, Tilly walked in with two bottle like canteens of water, "here, the pain pills. You'll probably be out within the next hour." She handed both the injured clones a canteen and then a small white pill. For someone who did not like them here, she was starting to become more tolerable of them. But Rex knew that it wasn't for them, it was for Ahsoka. He felt some kind of jealousy and understanding about them wanting to protect Ahsoka because that used to be his job. And maybe it still was but…not like before.

"Thank you, Sir." Blue muttered, though it was only in pain and the thank you was genuine.

Tilly didn't say anything before leaving the room. Todem told them, "Pash and I can start setting out the bed rolls for whenever you want to head in."

"That won't be necessary." Rex started before Ahsoka shook her head.

"You are not sleeping on the floor," she told him sternly.

He thought about wanting to argue with her, but he decided against it. He hadn't been away from Ahsoka that long.

Fives sat on the edge of the bed before looking around, looking at the walls of the room as Pash and Todem left the room. Ahsoka had been looking at Rex, arms crossed, knowing she won the fight. While they were guests she was not going to make them sleep on the floor and in their armour uncomfortably, even if they were supposed to be used to that.

"Nice room, Com—Ahsoka." Fives quickly corrected himself.

Ahsoka and Rex turned their attention to Fives. Ahsoka's look of determination dropped and she gave him a smile.

"Comfy bed too." Blue grunted and Ahsoka couldn't help but giggle.

"Thank you." she told them, a smile still on her face.

Rex looked around the room, this time actually looking around and taking in the surroundings. The walls were a dark, home-like and comforting brown. The side of the wall beside the door turned into a closet, though it was barely full of clothing. It only contained maybe eight or nine shirts with a more casually fancy dress which he guessed was for special occasions.

On the left wall was a medium sized dresser, on it different things like make-up and fragrances, a small hand holding mirror, and the one corner was holding a small vase filled with some type of thin red bark coming out of it. He knew it was for decoration, but it seemed to accent the room, even if it was in one corner. Beside the dresser was a full length mirror and then a little bit away was the bed and nightstand. Then there was the wall where the window was. It was long and took up most of the length of the wall. He saw that Ahsoka set candles up on it. Then on the fourth wall in the corner by the window there was a tree-like plant in a large blue and white pot. It would have been about Ahsoka's size. He wondered if it was real because he wondered how it would live to get enough sunlight. If it needed it. Beside it was a semi-long two shelf book shelf that was pretty bare. The bottom was filled with three basket-like things that contained something, but he couldn't see. On the second shelf were some holobooks. Only about eight and he could see that the majority of them were about culture and languages. There were a couple of fiction ones, names that he didn't recognize but he never had time to read anyway. None of the clones did. A little bit farther down the shelf were some holodisks for music. But there were only three of those. He didn't recognize them either. On the top was some type of album or folder with things almost falling out on white paper, actual paper, something that was rarely used now. Beside it were some small figurines of what he thought were musical instruments and certain buildings with at the end something that would play ongoing holoimages. The one that was playing as he looked at it was an image of Ahsoka with Tilly and Shay on some planet that he didn't recognize, but they were sitting on some type of wall in front of a type of tower he didn't know, but he saw other people taking pictures and he knew that it was some tourist attraction.

"That is a good picture." Rex commented.

Ahsoka turned to the image and she nodded, "yeah. They like to travel and since I've been to a lot of planets I can give them some tips. And I can actually enjoy visiting the planet instead of going on it for missions and then leaving again. Been to a lot of different places over the past couple of months."

Rex nodded and he couldn't help but smile at hers. She looked so much more…happy. There was so much less stress in her eyes. She was much more at peace. She was finally living a normal teenage life, or at least somewhat. These people really have helped her.

"It's still a little bare though," Rex said.

She shrugged, "it's hard to get into the habit of…well having things."

He could understand that. Jedi weren't supposed to have any items in case they formed attachments. It was hard to break a habit.

"Whoa…" Blue mumbles.

The rest of the clones and Ahsoka look at him to see him staring at the ceiling. The other clones stood frozen in awe as well. Rex had never seen anything like it. It was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen.

On the ceiling of the room was a painted on version of the entire galaxy as best it could be placed. The Outer Rim, the Inner Rim, major stars, even detailed moons and suns. The back was painted black so that it looked as though you were looking up at the sky and seeing everything in view. It was surprisingly calming just looking at it.

"This is…amazing." Rex told her.

Ahsoka smiled as she looked up as well, "that's Pash. He is amazing with old art like painting and drawing. It was a surprise for my birthday. Tilly and Shay took me out of the house all day so he could do it. When I came back it was to this. I still claim it's one of the best works he's ever made."

It was beautiful. Ahsoka continued, "in the dark there is kind of like a back light on the paint, so they shine out."

She walked over to the light switch and flipped it down and all of them looked up. It was as though there was some backlight behind it. It must have been the pant, but it did look like looking up at the actual night sky as the planets glowed, the stars glowing brighter. It looked so surreal.

"This is the best work of art I've ever seen." Fives commented.

"He's really talented." Ahsoka told them.

She sighed and looked around, "I'll go see how the others are do—."

There was a knock at the front door, a certain rhythm to it, and immediately the clones's backs straightened. Ahsoka held out her hands and told them, "hang on, it's okay. Just wait here so they can't see you."

"Who's 'they'?" Rex asked, following her as Ahsoka moves back down the hall to the main area.

"People who need help." Ahsoka answered.

Shay was already directing the other clones to the hallway and Ahsoka and Rex went through them. Rex grabbed his blaster and Ahsoka moved to take his shoulder and push him back to the hallway.

"Stay here, don't make a sound. We'll direct them to the next house." Ahsoka told them.

"Will he be calm?" Tilly hissed.

"Yes he will." Ahsoka promised, looking at the clones as the stayed against the wall. She gave Rex a pointed look. She may not be their Commander anymore, but she could boss them around and she knew they would listen to her.

Rex made one curt nod before Tilly went to the door, opening it slightly. He didn't want to start anything, but he would be ready to protect his brothers, and Ahsoka, if needed. Rex could hear the soft voice of a woman. She sounded tired and Rex could hear some desperation in her voice. She wasn't a threat, but she may not be alone.

"I saw the star. Is there a way we can stay the night?" the soft voice asked, "there are only three of us: me, my sister and son."

He heard Tilly answer, "I'm sorry, we're full tonight, but we can give you some food for the trip."

"We have an extra blanket too if you want to wrap him up." he heard Ahsoka say.

"How far away is it?" the woman asked. Rex could tell that she was tired and he felt a little guilty that they couldn't stay because of them. It sounded like she had a child to care for. He let out a silent sigh and moved his blaster down. There was no threat.

Ahsoka went past them as though they weren't there and he watched her go to a chest that was on the other side of the couch in the living room area. He could hear someone going through the cupboards for what he guessed was the food that they were talking about giving the family.

"It's five blocks down, not too far." he heard Tilly tell the woman.

Ahsoka came back with a knitted blue blanket with some type of yellow object on them.

"Here, this will keep him warm." he heard Ahsoka tell them.

"Thank you." another woman's voice answered.

"And this is the food. One container for each of you." he heard Bellamy tell them.

"Thank you so much." the original voice told them.

After a couple of seconds, Rex heard the door shut and he fully relaxed again. Moving away from the wall he heard Tilly mutter, "with every kid I see they keep getting younger."

"Poor thing looked five or six." he heard Ahsoka say.

Rex turned the corner and some of the group turned to look at him. Aytes came out from the side as well and Ahsoka saw the question on their faces. She tells them, "in the front window there is a star wind chime out. It lets people who are fleeing the battle zone and surrounding places that houses with it offer help to those who need it such as offering them a place to stay the night, food, sometimes even clothing for travellers who need to get to other places such as family, hotels that are offering free rooms, things like that. I'm surprised that you didn't see or hear the wind-chime, but I guess it isn't windy."

Todem looked at the clock on the window before saying, "I'll set up the rest of the bedrolls for you."

"Yeah you should get some rest." Ahsoka agreed.

"And I have the fire all ready." Bellamy joked, rolling his eyes.

Ahsoka rolled her eyes herself and looked over at him, "fine then I will enjoy it myself."

The others grinned and Tags told Todem, "I'll help you with the bed rolls."

"I can stay up with you, Commander," Rex told her, "besides…it would give us some time to talk."

Ahsoka was silent as she stared at him. It was only a couple of seconds, but it felt like minutes. Long, painful minutes. The room was quiet too. Finally, Ahsoka nodded, "you're right. I owe you that."

She left them suddenly, without even a goodbye. She knew there were things that he wanted to say to her and it was only fair that she keep an open ear. And maybe there were things she wanted to say to him too. She was sure he had questions and he deserved answers. All of the 501st did. But especially Rex.

"Yeah, that sounds good." Ahsoka told him.

Rex nodded, putting his blaster where it was before so the others knew that he didn't have it in case they became concerned.

"We'll help with the beds too," Aytes told Todem, that way Rex and Ahsoka would have their privacy.

Rex nodded before Ahsoka gave them a soft smile, "I'll see you all early tomorrow then."

"Yes. Night Ahsoka." Rooney told her.

She gave them a smile, "Good night boys."

Ahsoka turned to Rex and motioned to the large sliding doors in the living room, "come with me."

Rex nodded and followed the Togruta girl as she turned around and made their way to the doors. She opens it and he follows her, shutting the door behind them. Rex looked around and saw in the small area, put over in stones now, a small fire in the middle. It was burning slowly and small, but it looked inviting all the same. The night was dark, however the lights from the houses made light so it didn't seem so dark. The fire certainly helped. Looking around, he could see a staircase at the one side of the house that led to the second story.

Ahsoka stopped at the doorway and said, "usually we just sit on the ground."

Rex nodded once, "that sounds good to me…though I still can't believe that you just left a fire unattended out here."

Ahsoka shrugs and he sees a small grin on her face, "live a full life."

He cracks a smirk and shakes his head, "yeah sure."

They go to the fire and he watches Ahsoka make a place in front of it, sitting with her legs crossed in front of it. Despite the joking, he could see that the hardness of the topics she was sure were coming hit her, a frown now on her face as she looked down at the stone. Rex stared at her for a couple of seconds, wondering how to start talking to her before he sat on the stone ground in front of the fire as well, almost on the opposite side of Ahsoka from the flames.

After a couple of seconds of silence, Rex managed to say, "your lekku…they're longer."

She looked down at them and nodded, "yeah I've noticed that these past couple of weeks. The montrals are about the same size though since I've last seen you."

He nods, gulping a little before both were silent again. Ahsoka asked him, "did…did Anakin tell you I was gone?"

She looks up at him and he nods.

"Yeah. General Skywalker came in that night and told us. He didn't want word to get out and have us get told by someone else," he answered.

Ahsoka nodded. She gulps before admitting to him, her voice in a tone of guilt that Rex had never seen the Commander have before: "I'm sorry I couldn't say goodbye. I know you weren't my Company but we did work a lot together. I wanted to say goodbye but…it all went so fast. I told them that I was going to leave and I left. It's not like I had anything to pack and no excuse to stay anymore."

"I understand Com-Ahsoka. We were…surprised. But we knew that in the decision you made you had to leave." Rex explained.

She nodded, looking down at the fire. She felt bad about just leaving them with no word. Perhaps the Council wouldn't have seen it as appropriate, but Ahsoka had worked with the Company for three years. She had fought along side them and went to the med bays with them sometimes. They had put their lives in her hands more times than she could count and her the same with them. She should have said goodbye.

There was silence between them, Ahsoka thinking about the Company and Rex knowing her guilt. He would never admit that when General Skywalker told him the news that he wasn't sad. He didn't care to admit it but she had grown on him from that young bold, temperamental girl to a calm and wise leader. Even if she was only seventeen she had grown a lot and he knew that she would make a good Jedi and he was proud to fight by her side. And even though it was just to kill a couple of droids, Rex had felt that familiar feeling of when she was with them, before she left the order. However, although he was sad she left he knew she would be feeling worse. He didn't know specifically happened to Jedi after they left the order. He figured they were shunned and looked down upon, probably the same as what he would think of deserters. and he knew that the Commander had to live in a new life without the order.

"Was it hard?…" Rex finally managed to get out. His voice in a low whisper. He shakes his head a couple of times and explains, "I know it was hard Ahsoka, but…what was it like?"

Ahsoka's stare didn't leave the fire as she thought about what to tell him, if she should confess everything and just tell him things that she thought needed to be locked up, things that she didn't think she would reveal again. Or at least reveal to someone that was a part of that Old Life. Finally, her eyes raised and she looked at him. they both stared at each other, Rex's eyes never leaving her face.

"Rex, I was terrified." Ahsoka admitted finally, her voice a little louder than his own, and a little more emotional, more hurt. She tells him: "Your world surrounds the Jedi, in different ways than mine but still that was the centre. That was your roots and you built yourself on them. It's the only life you ever know and I….I left it. I left _everything_ about me and I was left with nothing but the clothes on my back.

"I was terrified to be in something so new and as I began to go into Coruscant I realized how dangerous my choice would be. My face had been plastered everywhere it could be on the planet. There would be people out there who would want me for my bounty even if it was no longer on my head or people who just couldn't wait to get their hands on a Jedi for their own agendas. There are plenty of people out there who would love to kill a Jedi, even if I no longer was one. And I knew that once my separation got out that Separatists would be on my tail for intel and more betrayal for me to join them. I had no weapons to protect me and I can handle myself one on one but I knew if I got in a crowd I wouldn't win. I found a cloak to help me hide but I lived in shadows of alleyways. I was starving, going through trash for food, completely dehydrated…I couldn't even beg for food because I knew that someone would recognize me. For those first couple of days I literally ate trash and scraps that couldn't fill a plate. I had gone from having a place to call home and having people surround me to having nothing and being absolutely alone, no one to talk to or go back to at all, my entire life completely cut out in a matter of minutes. I was helpless and completely alone and for the first time, even with all the battles I've been in, I really was _scared_."

She wouldn't admit the amount of times she cried in those first days both from the emotions of what happened and not knowing what to do, what plan to take. She could admit everything though so freely now, knowing that it was not her finest hour but it was a part of her, and she grew a lot from it. And she knew that Rex would understand. And he wanted the truth. She could admit now looking back that the council had destroyed her. Her emotions weren't of anger, surprisingly but they were of hurt, hurt that they couldn't trust her and that it seemed that most of them didn't try. Hurt that she wondered if she could trust herself, stuck between the ideas of how she felt about herself from how she didn't know to trust herself to stay away from the Sith to how she betrayed the Jedi deserting it to how she felt about the council and the betrayal of the people she respected and thought that she could trust to help her and guide her when they seemingly turned their backs without a second glance. And truthfully, some betrayals were worse than others. And it hurt her to know that they weren't there for her when she really did need them. She knew running away looked bad on her part, however looking back now, she somehow knew that they weren't going to listen to her even if she stayed and perhaps it was that revelation when Ahsoka knew that she couldn't stay with them.

Ahsoka was silent for a couple of minutes, Rex listening intently to what she said and staring at her. He had no idea how alone she was during that time. He had lived with his brothers all his life and it was a strong, constant presence. He tried to imagine being without them, completely knowing he would be on his own and never having their presence again, nor anyone else's for that matter. He couldn't imagine that, but trying to find that feeling still created a pit in his stomach.

Trying to change the subject to something better, or at least better than what those first days must have been, Rex asked: "you picked yourself up somehow though. How did you get to Denon? How did you get to live here?"

Ahsoka smiled a little and it was the first genuine smile Rex had seen since he first saw her again in the war zone. She answers, looking at the fire, "I didn't pick myself up Rex. I owe all of this new life to Senator Amidala."

Rex's confusion was obvious even if Ahsoka didn't look at him. Ahsoka explains: "Apparently after Anakin told her what happened she made it her mission to find me. And it seems that my skills in hiding worked very well. She had been out for apparently as long as I had looking for me. Finally she found me."

Ahsoka stopped, a small pang of sadness hitting her as she remembered Padme's face when she saw Ahsoka in the state she was in, how she had hit rock bottom after eight days. It was a face that broke Ahsoka's heart just as much as Ahsoka's appearance must have broke Padme's. But even if Ahsoka had looked and smelled the worse she possibly could, Padme brought her into her arms and allowed Ahsoka to silently cry, feeling some relief of seeing a familiar face that didn't look at her with disappointment, that Ahsoka still had one safe space. Ahsoka imagined that she looked dirty, smelled even worse. Ahsoka remembered looking up from the alleyway where she was sitting and seeing her, wondering if she was perhaps getting sick or delirious.

Ahsoka finally continued, "she gave me a very, _very_ generous amount of money. She wanted to help get me started.

"So, I had the money, but I didn't know where to go. And as much as Senator Amidala gave me, I had to spend it wisely. I knew I couldn't go to Shili since it would be the first place people who were looking for me would go. So, I cleaned myself up a little, got some new clothes and a cloak to try and make sure I blended in. After a couple of days I thought that Denon would be a good choice, at least for now. I could hide in an urban planet easily, it wasn't controlled by Sith, and I could probably get a job easily."

She frowned, still not looking up at Rex but feeling his eyes on her. She continues:

"When I was getting a ticket to Denon someone found me and I was attacked. I was able to keep myself safe a little from the lightsabers, but I didn't want to seriously hurt anyone either. I ended up with some cuts and bruises and damage to my one lekku. Considering you don't have any you don't know how sensitive they are and how much it hurt. Thankfully I was still allowed on the train even after the giant brawl that I was being blamed on for starting. On Denon I stayed in the shadows, keeping my money for food instead of a hotel. I bought myself a small aid kit and tried to fix my lekku myself. While I was doing that Shay found me and offered help, telling me that she could treat my wounds so I didn't have permanent damage or long lasting nerve pain problems. She took me back here and helped clean me up with Todem's help. Pretty soon we were talking, and I met everyone else. They knew I was a former Jedi, but that didn't seem to upset any of them. I think they felt sorry for me…well I guess they must have because they offered to let me stay the night on their couch. They kept insisting so I gave in. The next morning they explained that they had a room that was for rent and I was welcomed to stay. Apparently Tilly and Bellamy really advocated to the others to give me an option to stay. With the money the Senator gave me I was able to pay rent and buy furniture for the room, pay my fair share of the food. And I got a job as a basic repair mechanic at the place Shay works at to help supplement my income. I'm no where near as good as her. She can take scraps and make them into legitimate working parts, but it was the only skill that I could really take with what I did before with me. And I always liked working in mechanics so it was a good fit.…

"And I guess that's it. That's how Senator Amidala started my new life and how the others in the house supported me so I could see it through. Had it not been for her I'm sure I'd be dead on Coruscant after my third or fourth week."

She looks up at him again and sees Rex smiling. The expression surprises her. She stares at him, her brows furrowed a bit.

"What?" she asked.

He shrugs and admits, "I don't know. I…I guess I'm just glad that it worked out well for you. You seem to be in a good place even after everything that happened."

She smiled too and told him, "thank you. Like I said, I can't really take a lot of credit. It was the others that took me in and helped me get better. They…gave me another family."

He nods. Rex was then brought back to when he met with Cut and how he made a new family. He looks back at the fire for a short moment before he looks back up at her and asks, a frown on his face again, "did you ever think of coming back?"

Ahsoka shook her head, "no, I was certain of that. And I became more certain after I came here. Rex, most of them didn't even apologize to me about what they did. They claimed that it was somehow my Great Trial and to me it was as though they were saying that in the end it wasn't their fault and they have nothing to apologize for. And even if it was my Great Trial, they could have at least apologized for how they treated me. Even Obi-Wan who I had worked with and fought beside for years just sat there and condemned me to my death. I couldn't trust them and I could barely trust myself anymore. Rex, would you stay with people who you knew didn't have your back, that they were ready to throw you to the wolves and let you die without a second thought? That the people who you would fight beside may not fight to save your life?"

She looked up at him, watching for his reaction. Rex stood there shocked by the question. He had clones that went to the dark side, Slick being one of them. It was uncommon but it was there. He had put so much trust in his brothers and them in him. But he knew that Ahsoka probably felt the same with the other Jedi. He tried to think of not being able to trust them, if he could really go into battle with them. And if he was being honest with himself, Rex didn't know if he could. He didn't know if he could go into countless of dangerous battles with people not trusting him and being by his side to make sure he didn't die, that if the worse came that they wouldn't do their best to keep him alive as he would them.

He admits to her, "no, Ahsoka…I don't think that I could. Not without being worried at least."

She nodded, "neither could I. I had this…giant doubt about the life I was in and the people that I was with. Everything I had been a part of and I believed in had basically been shattered. There were people in there before I trusted with my life that literally threw it away, left me to die on accusations and circumstantial evidence. They were ready to let me die. It was a cold betrayal. And some of them didn't even have any shame for it."

Rex stared at her.

She gulped and explained further, her voice lower, "then there was myself. I didn't know if I could trust myself, if I would go to the dark side. I began all those 'what if's after I left…Back on a mission with Anakin and Obi-Wan I saw a vision of myself…myself in the dark side. I went back to then. My vision said that if I stayed with Anakin I would turn to the dark side. I began to think should I go to stay away from that, or if the Council knew it would happen either way. The feelings crept in and my trust in anyone, anything was just about shattered. Rex, you have no idea what that is like. How it destroys you."

He stares at her, the distress in her voice hurt him and made his stomach dropped. No, he had no idea.

He asked her, "how did you come out of it?"

She looked at him and told him, "I realized that I could trust myself not to go to the dark side because even after everything had happened, I was hurt but I wasn't angry. My feelings didn't invest into hate. And I realized that, even now, if anyone on the Council needed my help I would still risk my life for them. I would still fight along side me if they needed me, I would give my life for them. And to be honest, I would still fight for Barris. She was one of my greatest friends. I came to realize that she wasn't specifically targeting me, I just happened to be the one there and she couldn't stop her plan once it was in motion. And she did do something for me. She exposed the Council to me. She exposed me to this giant flaw in the system I believed so much in. She did show me how I couldn't trust them, at least not like before and that perhaps my life was elsewhere. But I don't hate her. I don't hate her at all. And I realized that hate led to the Dark Side, but I sure wasn't heading there. At least not yet. Even after a cold betrayal, having one of my friends betray me and the Council throw me away to die without even a second glance, I'd still be there for them in an instant. All of them."

Rex couldn't help but feel proud by that. He always knew that Ahsoka was a good person. Even when she was young and was overconfident and bold, he knew that there was light in her. It radiated off of her even in her 'Snippy years'. He knew that she was innocent of the crimes she was accused of, which was why he hated to follow orders to bring her in. But orders were orders. But he was proud even after the charges and brutal trials that she did not lose that good part in her.

She looked up at the house, which now most lights were off or dimmed. She continued, "I came to find trust again with these amazing people who let me stay with them. This…amazing group of people who saw someone in pain and helped them, no questions asked and with nothing they wanted in return. They took me in because they knew I needed someone and they let that be them. They acted in a way where they earned my trust. They knew that I was on the break of some type of break down whether it went to severe anxiety or depression, but they helped me find trust again in others. They helped me when I needed it and they didn't want anything in return. They were there for me when they barely knew me. Every time I cried Shay was there with some tea while Tilly sat by my side and the girls and I would talk all night so they could help me through it, Pash would bring home sweets every now and again and leave them on my bed, Todem would make my favourite breakfast after finding what I responded to the best, Bellamy and Thayer were ready with a joke, Pash was pretty funny…they just wanted to make sure I was okay. And honestly…I've never had that before, people who were that close. I mean…of course there was you and the other clones but it was different. This was a whole other dynamic of friendship and family. They saw someone hurt and wanted to help. I found myself smiling again, laughing again. They did pretty ridiculous things to help that but it was just…a complete change from the Order lifestyle. They would wake up to loud music and sing to it as they ate and got ready for work, banging their heads along with the rhythm and screaming into their forks like micophones, they would jump on the couch dancing, they would jump on you just to say hi, they would joke so much with you…the atmosphere was lighter, granted they weren't Jedi and had those responsibilities but it was a lot happier, lighter. When you are around happy people I guess that happens though."

Rex had also looked at the house. All of them seemed like good people, and good people for Ahsoka. He had seen the way they were defensive to the clones and he thought that it was because they were soldiers. But Rex began to realize that it was because they were worried for Ahsoka and what their reappearance would do to her. If she would fall back into the girl they first met. They wanted to protect her. And that was something he knew more than they would probably know. Because for years that was his job. But they were doing a spectacular job themselves and he was glad that Ahsoka found them.

"They sound like pretty great people." Rex commented.

Ahsoka looked back to her friend and nodded, a small smile on their face, "yeah. They are all pretty great."

A door opens and both look over to the doorway leading to the kitchen. She sees Bellamy at the doorway letting the light from inside flow out into the darkness. He walks over, letting the door shut.

"I hate to interrupt this…reunion but Ahsoka you should probably get some rest." Bellamy explained, standing beside her.

Ahsoka looked up at him and shook her head, "I can take the first watch."

"Thayer and Shay are going to take the first watch." Bellamy stated. He looked over at Rex and commented, "and no offence to you Captain but you should probably get some rest too after the day you had. Once Shay gets the com working I'm thinking that your General will want you and your men back up and running. And it'll have to be early in the morning while it is still dark so people don't see you."

Ahsoka looked at Rex before she shrugged and Rex already knew what was going through her head.

"I'm going, you are too." Rex insisted.

Ahsoka scrunched up her face at him and Bellamy chuckled before he said, "Ahsoka, you're going to do something stupid like going into a war zone and fighting like you did today and you're going to need your rest to do it."

A smile cracked on Ahsoka's face and Rex chuckled as well. Ahsoka told Bellamy, "that's fair."

She looked back at Rex and said, "I guess we are both going to bed."

The Captain nods and he gets up. Ahsoka takes the bucket of water that was beside her and tips the water on over the fire. Smoke soon follows a sizzling sound and there is no light on the deck besides what comes in through the windows. Ahsoka sets the bucket down before she sighed and said, "night Rex."

"Night Comman—Ahsoka." Rex said, correcting himself again.

Ahsoka chuckled, "old habits die hard, huh?"

A smile cracked on his face and he nodded. She went to turn around before a questions suddenly sprung in his mind, "wait! If we're taking your room, where will you go?"

She looked back at him and stared for a moment, as though she was thinking of something before she told him, a small smile on her face before she pointed back up at the second floor, "they have a small living area with a couch I'll take."

The idea of her going into a less comfortable place for the night because of him did make him feel a pang of guilt, but she took him out of his thoughts again when she told him, "I'll see you tomorrow morning."

Ahsoka gave him a last smile before she went up the old staircase and went inside, going through the door and disappearing inside. Bellamy looks at Rex and he says "Thayer found some more sleeping bags at his place for you. We have an alternating guard shift."

Rex nods, "thank you, Sir."

Bellamy nods and turns to go back to the main house before Rex says, "uh…Sir?"

Bellamy sighed, "and Commander?"

"Yes Sir?" Rex asked.

"I'm sorry about how…abrasive we seemed to be when you first came. We just didn't know about bringing part of the war to us." Bellamy answered, "we didn't know what harbouring clones would mean to this part if the Separatists found out."

"I understand, Sir. We don't want to hurt any innocents, especially ones that opened up their home for us. Tomorrow we will leave and we will make sure that the Separatists never knew you helped us." Rex answered.

"Thank you. Shay thinks that she just needs to get an old piece of scrap metal from the scrap yard and she'll be able to make a signal." Bellamy explained.

"Sounds great, Sir." Rex said, "Tags could come along and help. He's pretty good with tech and machinery."

Bellamy grinned and said, "no offence, Commander, but trust me, he'll only slow Shay down. I've seen her make a holo pad out of spare metal and an old battery in a matter of hours. If she can't fix yours she'll make a whole new one."

Rex smiled a little as well. He tells him, "fair enough, Sir. Thank you, again."

Bellamy nodded and turned around, going to the second floor like Ahsoka. Rex looked after him before he looked over at the main house again. He sighs and walks towards it. Looking through the blackened windows from the curtains he sees a small lamp light that was on, but it was barely there, as though like a candle light. Rex opens the door and he sees the Twi'lek is gone, however the coms and pieces are there, a full com almost made. He keeps himself from smirking. They could really use someone like her working for the Republic.

Rex also sees Thayer and Todem on the couch, talking and drinking some caf. They look at him and give him a small smile.

He asked Todem, "how are Jesse and Blue?"

Todem gave him a smile, "both are doing fine, Jesse may have some slight dull pain for a while in his leg but it'll be okay within a couple of days I'm sure. Blue stopped bleeding thankfully. Now it's just to make sure that it doesn't get infected. We don't exactly have a pharmacy here, so every couple of hours I'll change the wound dressings."

Rex nodded, "thank you, Sir. I'm just gonna check on them."

Todem nodded, "Two of us will be up all night. Get your rest Commander."

"Right, Sir. Thank you." Rex said before going off down the short hallway. He opens the door and sees Blue and Jesse are sound asleep and his other brothers on the floor in bed rolls, sleeping as well, although more lightly like they normally did. He felt a little better seeing that Blue's bandages were clean. Jesse was laying on the bed sleeping peacefully. His leg was elevated a little to help it heal from the slight sprain. Rex sighed and went through the door, taking off his armour as quietly as he could before getting into the empty red sleeping bag. He sighed, relaxing as he laid on his back.

"How's Commander Tano?" Fives asked.

Rex was silent for a little bit before he heard a very very far off explosion. It was something other people in this neighbourhood probably didn't hear since Rex and the other clones had almost supernatural sensitive hearing for things like that. Rex answered finally, "She's doing fine. Still stubborn."

He heard a couple of snickers. Rex smiled a little himself before saying, "we all better get some sleep. It's probably going to the best night's rest we'll get in a while."

The others seemed to agree. Soon, they all were silent and Rex fell asleep, only waking up every now and again when he heard Todem going to check and change Blue's bandages.

~.~

Rex woke up early in the morning, seeing from the clock at the one side of the room that they had about an hour and a half before the sun would come up. He groaned a bit and sat up, rubbing his head. He was tired from the sleep. The only time he stirred was when he heard Todem come in to look at and sometimes change Blue's bandages. It was good, silent rest, however he wished that he was able to get more. But he would force himself to wake up. He pushed the shoulders of his brothers on the floor, gruffing out in a tired voice, "come on, boys, time to get up."

They groaned a little and he gets up, cracking his back with a stretch before he looks over at Jesse. He didn't know how much the drug would still be in their system, but both him and Blue were asleep. Tags, Aytes, Rooney, and Fives were waking up on the floor at his feet before he gently shakes Jesse's shoulder. The clone grumbles and opens his eyes, "time to get up already?"

"Yeah. How's your ankle?" Rex asked.

"It doesn't feel so bad now." Jesse answered, "help me up. I'll see how much pressure I can put on it."

Rex did as he asked and let Jesse put his arm around his shoulders as he gently put pressure on his bad foot. He let out a small grunt before saying, "it's better than yesterday, but I definitely can't run on it."

Rex nodded and the others moved their bed rolls so that it would be easy for him to get through. He could hear someone coming down the hallway and they all looked to see Tilly there, surprisingly wide awake for someone at this hour.

"I'll help you take Blue," she told them, putting her brown hair in a ponytail. She looked over at Rex as she twisted her hair into the band, "Shay should be back any minute to finish your com."

"Thank you, sir." Rex told her as Fives woke up Blue.

Tilly went on the other side of the bed and helped Fives sit Blue up and bring him to the edge of the bed. Rex watched as Tilly directed Fives that they make a chair with their hands and arms so that there would be less strain on his arms. After Blue put his arms around their shoulders, he grunted only slightly when he was lifted.

"We'll follow you," Rex told them.

Tilly and Fives nodded before moving very slowly and carefully as they moved Blue from the bed to the couch in the main room. They set the tired clone down carefully again. Before Rex could follow with Jessie, Tags went on the other side and put Jesse's other arm around his shoulders as well to help him walk. They followed the last group of three and Rex helped Jessie onto the other side of the couch. Looking around the room, Rex saw Todem in one arm chair in the other corner, sleeping silently as he leaned his head against the back of the chair.

Just as Rex helped Jessie down, he heard someone fiddling with the door. Immediately all clones came to attention before Tilly whispered, "that's Shay."

And as soon as the door opened, Rex saw the Twi'lek, who looked tired and was carrying a bag that clanged together to make a certain metallic noise. She came into the house and shut the door behind her.

"Oh good," Shay told them as she took off her shoes, "you're up."

From all the commotion, Todem stirred as well, rubbing her eyes. Looking around, he was startled to see all the clones in the room. Realizing what happened, he sighed and rubbed his eyes again and said, "you should have woke me up, Tills."

"You looked so peaceful sleeping." Tilly grinned and he rolled his eyes.

She walked to the sliding door and told them, "I'll get Ahsoka."

There wasn't time for anyone to respond before she left. Shay grumbled as she set the bag on the table by the com, most things placed together from all the others. It almost made a complete full one. It made a large 'clank' noise that made Todem jump slightly before he got up, walking to Blue.

"I don't know how the kriff she can be so awake at this hour." Shay mumbled, going to start some caf.

"She usually wakes up a half hour from now anyway for her workout." Todem commented.

"Still not natural." Shay grumbled before she got out some mugs. She looked over her shoulder at them and commented, "I'm going to assume all of you want a cup as well? And that Thayer left last night as well."

"Definitely one for me. And yeah, left a little after you went to bed." Todem told her before turning to Blue, sitting down on the coffee table, "let me check your bandages."

Blue nodded, moving so that it was easier for the Togruta male to check them.

"More like my three hour nap." Shay grumbled a little, "Rex? Boys? What about you?"

The rest of the clones looked at Shay in surprise. Rex knew that they should be humble and say no, but that cup of caf would probably be the warmest and nicest thing they would have for the next couple of days or weeks. And he knew that his brothers were all thinking the same thing.

"That would be great actually." Rex admitted.

Shay nodded and began to set out more mugs before they heard the door open in the living room again. Rex and Fives looked to see Ahsoka coming in with Bellamy, Pash, and Tilly behind her. He was surprised a little to see her in a new change of clothes. This time she was wearing dark red, thin but slightly large stretchy pants and a white tank-top-like shirt that was a little lose on her as well. It was surprising. He had never really seen her in anything but her Jedi uniforms and what she wore yesterday was something similar.

She looked slightly tired, but he knew that it was just because she woke up. That was something that hadn't changed. The other men though looked tired though.

"How are we doing this morning?" Ahsoka asked, a smile on her face.

"You early morning people make me nauseous." Shay grumbled before going through the bag she brought in and getting out some small parts and a power source.

Ahsoka grinned as she looked at the clones. She comments, "this isn't even that bad. I'm used to waking up at different hours."

"Aren't you tired at all?" Shay asked as she worked on the com with the new parts, "I'm pretty tired as is."

Ahsoka grinned, "you don't know what tired is. Rex, Jesse, Fives you remember the "Siege of Unrest", as we called it?"

The female Togruta's grin widens and Fives groans, "you mean the almost four consecutive days, those 78 consecutive hours that we were up. Yeah, I don't think I'll ever forget that. The 501st could barely stand. We wanted to celebrate that victory with nothing but sleep."

Shay yawns before Tilly goes to the caf machine and begins to pour it into cups. Rex looks back at Ahsoka as she looks over Jesse's ankle. He raises an eyebrow and comments, "not to get too personal, Ahsoka, but how did you get a change of clothes."

Everyone in rooms looked over at Ahsoka, who also froze with a hand on Jesse's leg, her touch light not to hurt him, but the question caught her off guard. Rex saw everyone also freeze slightly as well. In the corner of his eye, he saw Tilly raise an eyebrow and grin. He was surprised by their reaction and was about to ask another question before Ahsoka answered him:

"We use my room a lot for refugees, so I have some clothes packed up on the second floor."

The female Togruta gave him a smile before going back to Jesse, checking his leg. She commented as Tilly started handing out the caf, "well the swelling has gone down a lot at least."

Jesse nodded and thanked Tilly when the brunette gave him a mug of hot caf. She gave Ahsoka the other mug and the Togruta thanked her before taking a sip, letting the warm beverage move through her, as if now coursing through her veins before she got up to help Tilly hand out caf. Rex saw Bellamy get something from a drawer in the kitchen area before he placed it on the kitchen table close to Shay's work.

Shay took a large gulp of her caf before declaring, "it's done." Bellamy pressed the small coin-like object on the table and an image of a map. Rex, Aytes, Fives, and Tags walked forward to look at the map.

Ahsoka went on the other side of Bellamy and leaned against the table as she looked at the map as well. Bellamy explained, as he pointed at a certain house on the district map, "that's where we are."

He moved his finger to draw a circle around another part of the city district, "that's where the battle is. We'll give you this map so you can find your way back."

"Do you remember the route we took last night at all?" Ahsoka asked.

"I'll remember the way once we get going." Rex answered.

Ahsoka nodded and Shay pushed the new com to them, looking almost the same as the ones they came in with, but there was some gold metal on it instead, and it was slightly longer to fit in the new pieces and rewire it. Rex looked down and Shay explained, "it'll be just like new. And I buffed it up a little, so the signal will be more powerful so even from this far away and if the Separatists are fiddling with the signals."

Rex stared at her, raising an eyebrow and the other clones looked surprised as well.

"We could use someone like you for our tech on Coruscant." Rex admitted.

Shay shrugged, getting up with her car in hand, "yeah, I know."

The others grinned and Shay moved to stand on the other side of Ahsoka, as though to give her moral support.

Rex looked at the com and he sighed before changing it to contact Wolffe As soon as it picked up, there was shock on the other side, "Rex? That you?"

Ahsoka took in a deep breath as she heard the other clone voice. She took a drink of the caf and Shay rubbed her shoulder before Ahsoka walked off, going towards her room. Rex stared after her before he looked back at the com.

"Yeah, Wolffe. I'm with Fives, Jesse, Blue, Aytes, Tags, and Rooney." Rex answered.

"We thought you were dead." Wolffe growled angrily, "were the kriff are you?"

"Blue and Jesse got injured. We were separated from a blast and some civilians took us in for the night." Rex explained, keeping the answer vague.

"How injured are they?" Wolffe asked.

"Blue's going to be out for a while, Jesse only has a bad ankle." Rex answered.

"How fast can you get back here. General Koon is taking us along the south, they made a barrier around, but we broke off the one side and are trying to close in. General Mundi will be arriving soon as well. Would you be able to meet us? The 501st is going insane without their Commander. I don't know how you can reign them all in." Wolffe growled.

Rex chuckled, "our General has rubbed off on us."

"I'll say. Just get back here. We can really use your help." Wolffe told him.

"It'll take us most likely an hour and a half or so." Rex admitted.

"We're already on the move, we'll take you when you come, but make it as quick as you can. I'll tell General Koon about your status."

Rex nodded, "alright. We will meet you. What are your co-ordinates?"

Wolffe gave him such information as well as where they were planning to attack. During that time, Bellamy looked at the map and pointed to the spots so Rex could also visually see. Rex kept the mental image of those points on the map in his mind and he nodded a thank you to Bellamy.

"We will met you there." Rex told him before they switched off the com.

Bellamy made the image collapse before Rex took the com and the object for the map.

"Boys, get your armour on, we have to get going while it's still dark." Rex told them.

Tags, Rooney, Fives, and Rex set their empty mugs on the kitchen counter before going back to Ahsoka's room. They saw her putting something in her drawers before she looked over at them, "sorry, I'll leave you to get ready."

Before they could say anything, Ahsoka already left the room. Rex stared after her as the other clones got their armour on. After a couple of seconds, Rex relented and did the same. He didn't know exactly what Ahsoka was feeling, but he knew that if she wanted to say anything that she would come to him.

After the clones were ready, the clones grabbed their blasters after putting on their helmets. Aytes grabbed Jesse and Blue's helmets as well before leaving to give it to them. As the clones moved from the room, Rex took one last look around the room to make sure that none of them were forgetting anything.

Something, however, caught his eye. At this angle, he could see his markings on a piece of paper that stuck out slightly from the binder book he saw last night. Walking to it, he gently opened the binder and he saw numerous pieces of paper or thick parchment. To his surprise, on the one at the top was a drawing of him and his brothers with Commander Tano. It was so odd. It wasn't an image, but a drawn memory. It was after their mission on Ryloth and he and some of his brothers were with her in the mess hall, having some down time before they made it back to Coruscant. It looked almost like an image, like it should be, but it wasn't. Confused, he moved that one and saw a parchment underneath with a drawing of Ahsoka and Senator Amidala, smiling together.

He saw Ahsoka come into his line of vision beside him, putting the book back. Rex stared at her, surprised, both by the action and by the pictures. Ahsoka looked embarrassed and she stuttered, "I'm sorry. I…you weren't supposed to see those."

"What are they?" Rex asked her.

She frowned and told him self-consciously, "I…I didn't have any images of us. And when I left I didn't really have anything to remember you by except for memories but…it wasn't the same. I couldn't…"

She looked down at the book and told him, "Pash offered to draw some things, some memories that I could look back at."

Rex held up his hand. He could tell she was embarrassed and he didn't want her to keep pushing that. And he understood why she had these. Truthfully, he was wishing that he had something like a holoimage of her as well, something that he could see and be reminded of their best memories. He tells her, his voice soft, "it's alright, Ahsoka. I'm not mad. I was just…surprised to see my Jaig eyes on paper."

Ahsoka smiled slightly before her and Rex heard Tilly call, "Commander! Ahsoka, time to go. You'll be pressed for dark as is."

Ahsoka looked at Rex, her frown returning. He could see something in her eyes through his helmet. There was slight pain. She wanted to go with them. And truthfully he wanted that as well. Even if it was only for a couple of minutes, fighting by her side yesterday was an ease of familiarity he took for granted until she left. He was going to miss her again.

Ahsoka forced herself to give him a smile, "you better get going, they are right."

Rex nodded before he told her, "you have a com here? We can contact you and let you know which direction the battle might go in, if the war zone will come in this direction."

Ahsoka smiled and told him, "yes we do. That would be a great help actually."

He nods and the two of them leave the room. They walk down the hallway together before seeing the clones ready at the door. Aytes and Rooney were holding up Blue like how he was carried earlier this morning and Tags was helping hold Jesse up.

"We're sorry about leaving the mess, Sir." Fives told the group of hosts.

"Don't worry about a little dishes." Pash told them, "you have more things to deal with."

"I told Ahsoka we will contact you if we can about information about where the battle could move." Rex told them.

"That would be really good intel so we can plan refugee rest stops." Shay agreed.

Rex nodded and Ahsoka told them, "good luck, stay safe."

They nodded, "Thank you again, all of you."

The others nodded as well. Rex saw that painful look in Ahsoka's eyes again before they left, Ahsoka giving them a small wave before they shut the door behind them. The female Togruta sighed and felt arms envelop her to comfort her but she told them, "I'm okay." And she was. As much as she missed them and talking with them was good, she was going to be okay.

As Rex and the others went to the sidewalk and began to go as quietly as they could down the street, Rex looked once more back at the house to see the star chime in the window that they were talking about. As they walked back, using the map they were given, Rex noticed a couple of houses with star chimes as well, bringing a small smile to his face.

The clones had made it back to their base on time for the next attack and the group did not hear from the clones until the next week when a large package of blankets was delivered to them with a note of 'for guests' that Ahsoka knew was from them.

It was the last time that they heard from any of them besides Rex until months later.


	2. Part 2

_**{A/N: Here is part two to the series of one-shots. This takes place after Order 66 and you'll learn more about some of my OCs. I admit that I change Kix's canon story, but I didn't like it and I'm not following the canon anyway so I thought pick one flower then pick them all sort of thing. I will also say that if you take note of the ending and then think about Ahsoka reuniting with Rex again in Rebels that it holds another, more angsty, meaning. This was intended to be a trilogy of one-shots, but there may be at least one more. I'm still deciding. The next one-shot will take place after Rex and Ahsoka reunite in Rebels. PLEASE tell me what you think. Your comments mean everything! Enjoy!}**_

 **Part Two**

"You're out of your mind!" Wolfe growled in a yelling voice, "Out of your kriffing mind! We need to _disappear_ , Rex. And finding your precious kriffing Jedi will not do that! The Republic is on us. We need to _go! You'll get us all killed!_ "

Rex didn't look up as he quickly looked over blaster and put some canteens of water in his pack. His blaster was out, but it would be enough to scare anyone if it needed, or psych them out for Rex to get physical. He was gritting his teeth, trying to go so fast that he was almost fumbling things from his fingers as they just fell in the pack. He took the holo disk of the map of Denon and placed it in his pocket to make sure that it he would not lose it. Although he was sure he would remember the way back to that house by the time he landed, he didn't want to take that chance.

He had enough of Wolffe yelling at him though. His head hurt as he tried thinking of everything that had happened in the past six short hours since Order 66 was executed, how he had tried to stop his squadron from killing the Jedi at the Temple, invading and killing them before being branded a traitor to the Republic for going against it, and for exposing what he had done: taken out his chips. Then it was contacting Gregor and Wolffe, the one-eyed General more than angry for his members shooting down Plo Koon and getting in contact to meet up. Wolffe and Gregor were both branded deserters for leaving and going to the underground of Coruscant to buy some new and more ordinary cloths as well as to hide in a low grade hideout hotel room where Rex knew to watch his back or else he may really get shot. But they needed to stay low before making a plan. The hours went by so chaotically and fast that Rex was still in the mode of thinking a mile a minute to plan even where his next step on the sidewalk would be.

Except he had a plan of his own, one that didn't go in hand with Wolffe or Gregor's.

Rex rounded, his head pounding as he yelled back, meeting Wolffe's volume and fierceness: "Then go without me! Or stay here until I get back. I don't care! I'll meet you later then!"

He gets up and puts his pack on his back and the two stare down each other, both glaring. Rex didn't know what Wolffe's problem was and he could hear the people on both sides of their room hit the walls and yell at them to be quiet. Gregor sat on one of the beds, not knowing what to really say or do because he did not want to get between an angry growling Wolffe and an angry Rex who looked like he could commit murder.

"You just can't expect us to sit here and wait while you off like you are on a last rescue mission for someone who wouldn't do the same for you!" Wolffe growled, "Rex by doing this you are putting _all_ of us in danger!"

Rex snapped at him, his face looking more like a wolf than the other clone's namesake, " _she would do the same_. She _has_. She risked her life on Denon to get me and my men out of a warzone when we would have died had she not and I'll be damned if I let anything happen to her. With everything that is happening this might even _be_ a rescue mission."

"She's not a Jedi, Rex! She won't be targeted! You are not responsible for her anymore!" Wolffe yelled back, "she abandoned you, she abandoned the war!"

"Don't talk about things you don't understand," Rex snapped back as he remembered Ahsoka's face as she explained to him what happened, "and I don't know what the kriff you think _we_ are doing but we are doing the same thing!"

"It's different!" Wolffe growled.

"Not by much." Rex answered, "you don't have to come with me. You two can go off somewhere. I can meet you somewhere or you don't have to contact me again if you want to keep the location a secret. I'll find my own way but I have to do this first."

Wolffe rolled his eye and growled, "I can't believe that you are putting your life on the line for someone who was a part of the system that used us like toys!"

"She didn't know!" Rex hissed, "I believe that."

And he believed that the Jedi didn't know about the chips. Sadly Fives warning didn't go too far and it was forgotten, but not to Rex. And many clones he tried to convince didn't believe him because they didn't want to believe that Why would they create or approve something that would go against them personally and kill their own? He believed that the Jedi were victims of a Republic or Separatist plot. But every clone had a different opinion and he didn't want to discuss politics with Wolffe now.

"I am going," Rex hissed at him, looking over at Gregor now as well. He told them, "you can stay here or leave. I can meet you or not. That is up to you. But this is something I have to do and I'm going whether you like it or not."

Wolffe's growl was so deep that Gregor almost flinched.

"We'll decide later." Wolffe answered him.

Rex nodded and told them, "I'll come back here in a couple of days."

Rex walked to the doorway and opened it with his pack on his back. He was almost out the door before he heard Wolffe call out, "and Rex."

Rex sighed angrily and opened the door slightly to look back at them, "what, Wolffe?"

"Good luck," Wolffe told him, "you'll need it."

Rex rolled his eyes and muttered, "thanks."

However Rex knew that he would need luck to get a train ticket to Denon. Although he hadn't seen any wanted images with his face on it and the Empire would be looking more for Jedi than for rogue clones, he had to watch his back. More clones could be out looking around Coruscant and a clone who was wearing civilian clones would stand out. Perhaps Rex's first stop wouldn't be at the station but a clothing shop to get a cloak to help hide his face.

He made out of the underground before finding the closest clothing shop. Getting a cloak, he knew that he had just enough credits after this to get a ticket to Denon and back and whatever ticket Rex would take after coming back here to figure out a new plan on where to go and hide, whether that was with Wolffe or Gregor or not he knew was up in the air, but that was his choice and he wasn't going to go back now.

Rex walked quietly to the station, hood up to hide his face as he moved in between other people walking. He saw the Coruscant Guard around in small pairs every few blocks, but it wasn't him they were looking for. To try and not make himself too suspicious, as they were most likely looking for someone trying to hide from therewith cloaks on. However, there were other civilians walking around with cloaks, so Rex tried to fit in like them, walking at a normal pace and his face somewhat up, but also down slightly to try and not attract any attention from the Guards. They were the only ones who would be looking out for him, or would notice him if they recognized him. All that took up any holoimage and holovid was of the Jedi Temple, burning or the Chancellor talking of how the Jedi were enemies, that they had to be destroyed. It made his stomach churn as people were agreeing with what had happened, how Jedi who had fought for them, who saved them, were being killed. People who rallied for the Jedi now rallied for an Empire they didn't understand, that they would never understand. Sheep always were easy to flock when they didn't want to think.

He kept walking down the roads, passing people who weren't paying attention to him, but to every screen. People were rejoicing. They thought the war was over when another was just beginning. Soon, people would understand what happened. Rex just hoped that the numbers of those who would be enlightened outweighed the number of sheep.

Rex walked to the station, no one paying him any mind. He made it to the ticket booth, seeing that there were more of his brothers around the station. It made sense, they were looking for any Jedi trying to escape the planet. But would they be looking for them? Maybe their orders were still on focus of the Jedi. Rex made sure to keep his face closed off to them, still trying to act natural so that he was hidden in plain sight…with the help of hiding slightly from the cloak.

The dark green Rodian at the ticket booth was barely paying attention to people who came up to him. He was looking only at the screen that was in the station, listening to the Chancellor talk. Rex kept his voice low, but loud enough for the Rodian to hear, "one ticket to East Wing Denon,"

The Rodian didn't seem to hear him. Rex cleared his voice and the Rodian then turned to him, clearly annoyed. Rex repeated, "one ticket to East Wing Denon."

The Rodian sighed and barely looked at him as he clicked something behind the glass before looking back at the holoimage. Rex saw the small interac screen beside him light up and flash, telling him to put in his card for the credits. Rex did so and paid. Out the side beside the screen a ticket came out, white with dark blue writing that clearly stated where he was going and the date and time he payed. The Rodian barely registered that he was a clone, his attention divided elsewhere. Rex side and took the ticket and looked at the images that showed what ships were leaving when and where. The one for Denon would be leaving in an hour. Rex didn't know what he could do in that hour besides try to avoid making eye contact with any of the Coruscant Guard.

He found a bench to sit on, one that faced away from the guards innocently. He sat down, sitting beside a mother and daughter pair of Twi'leks who were speaking a language he didn't know. In front of them was a screen of the Chancellor making his speech about the new joining Republic, a new Galactic Empire. There were people around him watching as well and it helped Rex stay somewhat covered. Hiding from the Coruscant Guard was one thing, listening to the Chancellor talk was another and he didn't know which one was harder. Rex tried to tune out his gravel voice and think about his plan for when he got to Denon. The station he got off at would take him to the same Wing Ahsoka was living in, but he knew he would still be some distance away. Ahsoka was near the edge of the one wing and the station was in the middle. It may take him about an hour and a half to two hours to get to her place. Hopefully he wouldn't really need to hide like he was now and the last time he was on Denon. He didn't think any Jedi were on missions on Denon, however the information that she was on Denon coming from one of the other clone groups like Blue and Aytes was a possibility. He only hoped that if someone was looking for her that he got there first to help her. It would be well into the night when he got there so the darkness would also hide him and there wouldn't be as many civilians he would go past. However, by the time he would get there it would be very last into the night, almost into the morning hours.

The ex-Captain was brought out of his thoughts when he noticed that his ship was boarding. He moved through the crowds, trying to keep a low profile. He was glad for the screens on the ship as well. While there were a couple of other people in cloaks and turned to look at the wall to hide their faces like he did, even Rex questioned how moral of characters they were, he knew that without the holovids and images of the fallen Jedi Temple and the start up of the new Galaxy he would have looked awfully suspicious.

He pretended to sleep. As unalert o their surroundings these people seemed to be, he knew he would overhear more still if people thought that they were alone, like a bubble around them where no one out of it could hear anything. He turned a bit so his face was mostly hidden by the hood of the clock so that even if someone happened to glance his way, they wouldn't notice he was an escaping clone. Rex doubted that he would hear anything, but if he overheard something about Denon he needed to know about it.

But just as he thought, he heard nothing.

The ship left him time to think of his plan. He vaguely remembered where her house was if he went from the spot of the battle. So he'd somehow have to take a shuttle there, or at least close to the scene and find himself from there. He had the map they originally gave him those months ago, but he didn't have anything labelled. He barely remembered where anything was. So he was stuck with going to the old war zone. He was sure it was still there. He could tell the taxi driver that he was a tourist who wanted to take a look and from there he would have the privacy to try and retrace his steps.

Getting off the ship, he was able to find a taxi easily enough. The trouble was making sure that the taxi-driver wouldn't tell anyone he was a clone. Rex thought, at first, that the news coverage would save him on that too. The driver had barely looked at him. There was broadcast in the car. It was only when Rex asked to go to the hold war zone when the driver turned to look at him, confusion all over his face.

"Why do you want to go back there? It's a mess. All rubble now," the Rodian male stated.

"I figure but this is my first time on Denon. I thought I would just see it. I heard it was bad." Rex stated.

"What are you doing? Researching? Writing a book?" he asked.

Rex shook his head, "no, just interested. I have no hobbies."

"Sounds like it." the driver said before turning back around. Rex knew that even though he didn't make a comment that Rex was a clone, he had observed it. The Rodian started to move the car and he commented to Rex, not looking back, "I wouldn't stay there long or take many pictures or anything. It would be very disrespectful. Not many people are out now, the sun's going down, but it is very fresh in people's minds. It wasn't too long ago. Many civilians lost their homes. My sister's husband's family included. Had it not been for the Refugee Star Housing System many people may have died from exposure on the streets or hunger as they fled."

That caught Rex's attention.

"Refugee Star Housing System?" Rex said more to himself than as a question to the driver. He knew what that was, it was what Ahsoka and her roommates were a part of.

"Yeah," the Rodian answered, "this group created a housing system. There were always six around patrol of the war zone and would direct the fleeing civilians to houses where they would be able to sleep for the night before heading somewhere, in my family's case it was my brother-in-law's house, which was on the other side of the planet. They went from house to house, or to a motel there were a lot of those, before finding a shuttle to take them to his house. The scouters would give out maps if they had any and civilians could take some too. I got some, just because I would pick up some of these refugees and offer rides to these safe houses. At first there weren't many, but the more it got out the more people wanted to help, so I would have to keep refreshing and getting new maps and adding to them, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. At these safe houses refugees could stay the night, but if they were full then they were still given food, blankets, clothes, sometimes shoes. It really brought the community together."

Rex smiled to himself a little. He had been one of those safe houses and he knew some of the people who were a part of it. He was proud of Ahsoka for being a part of it. He knew that she and her roommates must have had some part in the creation of this. Helping people was just who they were.

"That sounds interesting." Rex told him, "but…did you say that you had maps of where to go? Where these houses were located? I…I'm interested. I want to see how spread out they were, how far people had to go."

"You really are weird." the Rodian commented, turning a corner, "yeah I have some left. I never clean the front compartment. There should be some in there."

Rex watched the Rodian reach over to the passenger side compartment and open it. Rex noticed they had came upon the old war zone, or at least he presumed so because in front of him was all rubble and ruins of broken shells of houses. Soon, the Rodian grabbed something and turned to put it in Rex's hand.

"Here's your place and here is your map. I don't know why you have nothing better to do tonight. Aren't you at all interested in the collapse of the Clone Wars?" the Rodian asked and Rex heard the underlying meaning of 'where are you going?'.

"Not really." Rex told him, "how much?"

The Rodian shrugged and gave the answer. Rex got out his credits, leaving extra for the driver.

"Thanks. And keep the change." Rex said as a silent message to the Rodian. The driver grinned.

"Yeah, sure." the driver told him as Rex moved out of the car. "Have fun."

"Yeah, sure." Rex told the driver before shutting the door behind him. Rex watched the driver move off, going somewhere else and it left Rex in this eerie silence. He looked around at the rubble, his boots hitting some old blocks of a house. He sighed and was met with a wasteland for blocks and blocks. He didn't know where it ended because there was a hill and Rex couldn't see past it. Rex didn't know where in the war zone he was. He had to shut out faint memories he had of the battle here, of the brothers who died here, how he would have been one of those in the death rate had Ahsoka not rescued him.

Rex opened the map, looking around at the streets he was near for any signs. Thankfully this area of Denon was the old part, with old roads and signs all around. He found his spot pretty quickly and when he compared his own map to the one given to him, he soon found his target.

"Gotcha."

~.~

Rex remembered the old house the instant he saw it down the street. He didn't think he would ever forget the old building, used by old materials virtually gone on many other worlds and most definitely not used on Coruscant. He couldn't forget that intricate design and he definitely couldn't forget how at an angle coming up, the back part was gone, part of the wall down. He remembered talking with Ahsoka back there and it brought some emotions back. There was sadness of what they talked about and that was the last time he saw her, but there was something else. Happiness? Hope? He wasn't sure. It could be the hope to see her again, and the hope of the reminder of her story told him she was okay and would be.

Walking up to the house it was dark. The suns had gone down and there was faintness of light on the horizon but other than that he knew that by the end of the hour it would be pitch black on the planet. There were no lights on in the house and there was no sound coming from inside. He doubted that they would be asleep by now. It was still early in the evening.

Still, Rex knocked, hoping that there would be an answer. After hearing nothing on the other end, he knocked again after a couple of minutes.

Something didn't feel right. They weren't home, at least if they still lived there.

Rex moved down from the door and looked down the road both ways to make sure no one was coming before he went to the front window that was missing the star chain that was here the months before. The side of the curtain was moved at the edge of the window and Rex was hoping that he would be able to sneak a look in. Rex cupped his eyes before looking in the window after taking one more look around for reassurance. The last thing he needed was people calling law enforcement because of a suspected burglary.

He couldn't see anything through the window. It was too dark inside. Rex tried to open the window, but he wasn't surprised that it was locked.

He didn't like being out front. He doubted that they were home and that gave him both fear and hope. He hoped that they have left on their own, to hide somewhere, but there was some fear that somehow the Republic found out that she was living here now. As he made his way to the back door, he tried to calm his own fears. _Had_ clone troopers or any other law enforcement took Ahsoka then there would certainly be a scene instead of the peacefulness of the house that it was now. And he was sure that it would be blocked off with clones still guarding it if she was taken.

Rex heaved himself up to the back sliding door. He looked in it, a larger opening between the curtains. From the light of the still going down suns, he could see the shadows in the house. Everything was in the place it was the last time he was here. Nothing was overturned, nothing was broken. It looked as though they went out for a couple of hours, but Rex knew better. In the wake of Order 66, even if a couple of days have passed, he knew Ahsoka and the others wouldn't risk going out now. If they did leave, it was to hide somewhere else.

Rex tested the door. It was locked too. He sighed, thinking about how he could get in without breaking any glass and catching alarm from the neighbours. He wanted to make sure that they really did leave, and he hoped that he would find some clue to find out where they went. He needed to know that she was safe. He didn't come to Denon to get to an empty house and more questions than when he originally left.

Rex went to the window of the bathroom. He tested it and got nothing again before going to the next. Reminding himself of the layout of the house, he realized that this would have been Ahsoka's room. He couldn't see anything due to a curtain over the window, but he knew that even if she or anyone else was in the house that from his tampering to try and get in would have alerted them if they were hiding in the basement, though he had never seen it so he didn't know if they even could. He was more certain they weren't there and it drove him to find any clues. Military habits die hard and he knew they would be even more alert with everything that was going on.

Rex tried the window. Expecting it to be locked too, he slid against the window with a lot of strength. When it easily moved down, he realized he put in too much effort and almost slid down past the window. After, he stood up straight and looked at the window in surprise. He knew that it was no mistake that Ahsoka would leave her window open. She left it open for someone to come in.

She left it open for him to come in.

Rex immediately took advantage of her work and moved the curtain down so that he wouldn't get caught in it or bring it down before maneuvering himself into the room. Standing up straight, he turned around and looked around the room. Even in the more than little light the room was spotless clean, undisturbed for hours. And he noticed that it was more cleaned out than he remembered too. The places of holoimages were gone and that book of parchment. He could also see that the shirts that were in her closet were now gone. He didn't need to check to know that most of her other clothing, if not all of it, would be gone too. That wasn't what really caught his eye, though.

On her tightly made bed was one of those parchment images. As he took a step closer, he noticed that it was the one image that he noticed the last time he was here. He saw the drawn version of himself again and he quickly picked up the paper, the eerie silence seeming to get louder around him.

He knew that Ahsoka was trying to tell him something. This was the paper he had picked up when he was here the last time, the one with his Jaig eyes on it. It was the only one left while the album itself was gone. And it was sitting out in the open. She knew there was a chance he would come here and she left him a message.

But what was she trying to say?

As he moved the paper in his hand he noticed that when it hit the light at a certain angle he saw a shadow come through the paper. Rex stared for half a second before he moved the paper over quickly, crunching it slightly as he turned it. On the other side of the sheet of paper was the writing that he recognized as Ahsoka's. Her Basic writing always had rougher corners and curves than the average. This seemed to be slow writing, it wasn't so messy.

 _Do you remember our trip back from the Citadel?_

Rex stared at the question. What was that supposed to mean? Their mission to the Citadel to save General Piell? He remembered the entire mission very vaguely. That was a couple of years go and he had been in so many both before and since. He never remembered the specific details of a lot of those missions unless they stood out.

Was the Citadel supposed to stand out to him?

Sure it was the first time he was in a major mission and it was a mission where they lost Echo. On the way back he had to comfort Fives.

He mostly remembered Fives on that trip back and that made him feel a small pang of hurt in his heart as he remembered the last member of Domino Squad, how he failed to protect him. But Ahsoka wouldn't know about Fives and the chips…would she? Maybe she saw it in some Force Vision or whatever Jedi had. He never understood a lot of things about the Force that the Jedi could master. Most of the time he was just as surprised as everyone else who would see them lift something with the Force or anything else like that.

But he wondered if there was something else. He was slightly confused. Rex's mind was going a mile a minute as he tried to sort out his thoughts.

 _Come on, Rex. Think._

The clone stood there and looking at the words.

Ahsoka meant for him to see this. Specifically him. It was a drawing that had both of them on it and his Jaig eyes on it. Rex was the only clone who had seen this drawing. Not to mention that if others came here and they didn't want to be followed, especially in the actions of Order 66, then it couldn't be a question or clue that another clone or Jedi would know the answer to. He knew that what Ahsoka was referring to was something that was only between them. The drawing, the question…she was asking specifically him because only he would know the answer.

He began to think back to the trip back. He was exhausted, a little more than normal. The Citadel mission was harder than he anticipated, and he anticipated a lot. And it was worse because Echo wasn't coming back with them. He let his troopers go to their rooms and after contacting the Council on Coruscant to tell them of the mission, he immediately went to see Fives. He barely even said goodbye to the General or Ahsoka, but it seemed that they knew where he was going. He stayed there for all of the trip. Or most of it at least. Then he did some quick paperwork, but he didn't get too far in because he spent so much time with Fives. Then they came back to Coruscant and he finished up the paperwork and made the rest of the necessary reports with Cody.

Did she mean Fives? Instead of a name was it supposed to mean the literal number? A fifth planet in the Inner Rim? Or the Outer Rim? It couldn't mean that. The answer to the clue was too vague. That couldn't be it.

 _Come on, Rex. Think. Think about that trip home._

He stared at the question. Back from the Citadel. Back from the Citadel.

Did he even see Ahsoka before they got to Coruscant?

His eyes suddenly got wide as he stared up, looking at nothing in particular as he thought about that trip.

He _had_ talked to Ahsoka on the way back.

The voices were like whispers in his mind as he stared at the room wall. He did see Ahsoka on the trip home from the Citadel. He did speak to her alone. When he was leaving Fives's room he ran into Ahsoka, who was in the hallway…on her way to her room?

 _"How is he doing?"_

 _"As well as you think he would."_

Rex could remember her voice mostly, but the picture in his head was pretty fuzzy so he tried to remember by focusing on the words. He remembered that they were alone in the hallway. It was practically deserted because not a lot of clones came on the mission and besides Cody, they were probably catching up on their sleep. He couldn't remember those specific details of where each clone was but he remembered that the hallway was clear.

Ahsoka _had_ went past…or she met him…something happened but they got talking.

He couldn't really remember a lot of what they were talking about? A vacation?

No a leave!

 _"At least we will have a break for a while. The Council…"_

The GAR and Jedi Council believed that after such a stressful and dangerous mission that the Jedi needed some time to…balance maybe? Something like that. Like Rex knew anything about that. But the GAR agreed that the 501st deserved a bit of a break… a 'leave' and he remembered that it was for a week, not that Rex had any spare time for it. It was a 'leave' though they couldn't really go anywhere.

It was like emergency lights and alarms went off in Rex's head.

 _That_ was what they were talking about.

The whispers came back again and he closed his eyes in annoyance, trying to think about the conversation. Some information was gone, there were gaps but he tried to remember as best he could.

 _"Maybe I should go off world…but I wouldn't know where to go."_

 _"Any place you really want to go, kid?"_

 _"Not exactly….never been…."_

 _"Nowhere? You Jedi don't get to travel?"_

 _"Not really. It would be personal trip. Unless it's for spiritual…it…don't go."_

 _"Fair enough. Like us. We…planets for missions."_

There were gaps again as he thought about the memory. What were they talking about? A leave…going somewhere.

Yes going somewhere. Certain places.

 _"If you could go off-world for leave where would you go, Rex?"_

 _"Alderaan. No question."_

 _"When… Alderaan?"_

 _"It was before you came in. The General, some troops and I had to help Senator Bail with some political aspects on the planet. I'll never forget those mountains. They still are one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. I'm not much for snow, but in the warmer season I would love to be up on those mountains, camp and have some time to yourself, isolated with nothing but you and the mountains."_

A giggle.

 _"You sound like a romantic."_

 _"Have you ever seen those mountains, Littl'un?"_

 _"No. I've never been to Alderaan before. I've only seen holo-images."_

 _"When you see it for yourself you'll know what I mean. The ones by the Senator's home are the best. He chose the spot well."_

 _"Hopefully I can see them someday."_

Alderaan.

She was on Alderaan.

~.~

Getting a ship that was travelling to Alderaan was not as easy as Rex thought it would be. He knew that he had the credits to get to Alderaan, it was the price to get from Alderaan back to Coruscant that he didn't know about. But he tried to keep that out of his mind. He would get to that problem later. Upon arriving at the station, he realized he missed the ones that went in the morning, so Rex had to get one that was leaving in the upcoming hours. That left Rex exposed and he didn't like that. However, the ride was cheaper because when they got to Alderaan it would be early night with the change in Rims. That wasn't really the problem except he was exposed. There was a large mix of species at the station and he hoped that he would blend in, but there were not as many holovids showing the new propaganda of Emperor Palpatine and the new Galactic Empire so that left people's eyes to wander. There were a couple of people who looked at him and that made Rex anxious, so he would then move to a new bench or would hide himself in the refreshers so that he didn't raise any suspicion. He doubted that anyone would contact Coruscant about a rogue clone, but they might become scared that a clone was there. He doubted that they forgot the Separatist attack, even if there were no 'Seperatists' specifically anymore. Or if they got wind that he was a deserter then they could contact Coruscant to see if they would get any money for reporting him. So Rex had to keep a low profile.

It was harder to do that on the actual ride there. He couldn't stay in the refresher for the whole ride, though he debated it, because there was a limited amount and he knew that it would raise suspicion if he was there the whole time. So he sat in his seat and tried to keep his head turned to the others, pretending to be asleep. There were more holovids in the ship and all Rex could hear was that horrendous propaganda and news reports of how the Jedi Temple was burning with the Jedi being declared traitors to the Republic-now-Empire and that if anyone seen a Jedi they should be reported. Rex grit his teeth and tried to keep the voice out of his head. There was obviously no mention of how the clones were chipped, how they were robbed of the only and biggest freedom one could ever had, their own decisions, brain, and thoughts. That would be bad press.

The ride was long and Rex had a lot of time to think. He wondered if any of his brothers with their chip still in would 'snap out' of their mind control and if so, what would they think? Would they resent the Empire. He thought most likely, as the clones _were_ ordered to kill their superiors and they lost their basic right to think. Would the Empire have them keep working for them? Would the clones want to keep working for them? Would the clones be discharged? And if so where would that leave his brothers. There were thousands of them. Where would they all go?

Even if they were discharged and no longer worked for the Empire, Rex didn't know if he could reach out to them. It would be a lot of unknown risk and the situation could go in many directions that Rex didn't know about. It would be safer for him, Wolffe, and Gregor to stay hidden, just like the remaining Jedi.

When he did dock, Rex found a disc that would give a holo-image of the map of the major city and stepping off, even in the dark, Rex could see the high mountains. That was the next challenge for Rex. He sat down on a bench in the station,thinking over his options.

Even with a map and knowing she was on Alderaan, Rex didn't know _where_ in the mountains she was. If she was there. Maybe she reached out to Senator Organa. He knew that the Senator was not exactly of great acquaintance with the Palpatine, but would Ahsoka risk it? Could Rex risk finding him to secretly ask. If being careful he knew that he could make it in. He didn't have to specifically meet the Senator, he could just go through his office or any other place that may hold information to see if he and Ahsoka or any of her roommates had spoken. But it would be a risk and if Rex was already a wanted face and had people looking at him, it would only get worse.

And he thought that if Senator Organa and Ahsoka touched base with each other that she wouldn't be in his actual home. Having a Jedi, even one that was no longer in the Order, housed in his home would be enough for Palpatine to label him as a traitor and people would be demanding his death. He wasn't sure if all those who worked in his home for him would keep their mouth shut about Ahsoka being there, or at least Rex was hoping he was smart enough not to do that. And even though Rex was thinking about sneaking in, he hoped Organa was smart enough to bump up his security. He did like the Senator and was one of the members of the Council who had always treated the clones as humans and acted to them as he would anyone else. And if Ahsoka was around she would need the extra protection in general.

Also, he remembered that they were talking about the mountains in the conversation. And he mentioned the ones near the Senator's home. It was in the warmer months so most of the snow was melted so it wouldn't be unbearable to make camp on one of them. He was also sure that if Ahsoka was on a mountain that was far from the senator's house then she would have left more of a clue for him in which direction to go.

Rex took the paper out of his pocket and stared at the words again.

 _Do you remember our trip back from the Citadel?_

No other clue. She was on a mountain, _one_ of the mountains.

Problem was the city was almost completely surrounded by them.

Rex looked at the mountains through the window. He could start with the one that was closest to the Organa home, or at least the easiest to get up.

Or would she do a hard route?

Definitely the hard route.

He knew that they would want to cover their tracks and it would be easier to have a warning if someone was coming and it would give them time if they had to run. He knew they would be smart enough to stay near a route. As much as they wanted to hide, they also knew that it would be easy to get lost on those mountains. They wouldn't deter too far.

That was the next idea. He found a disc that gave holo-maps of the trails on the mountains. He was glad for the tourism for making this so easily accessible.

Although, he realized, that his plan would only work _if_ she had made contact with the Senator. But it was the only plan he had and for now, he would have to follow it.

Rex heard that through the Force the Jedi could sometimes find each other through some type of connection. He had no idea how it all worked but he sure wished he had it now to find her.

~.~

Rex was half way up the mountain before he realized how idiotic he was in how unprepared he was for this endeavour. He had gone up thick and hard treks like this before, that wasn't the problem. And the cold wasn't the worse thing either, he had gone through worse in worse climate and weather. The problem was that he was not prepared. He brought no light, so he almost fell a couple of times going up the steep and rocky hill. He also didn't bring any type of navigation device so he had to hope that he was on the right trail and he was slightly nervous to go off it to look for Ahsoka. He saw no trace of her and her roommates, although he wasn't expecting to, and he didn't want to get lost in the dark and waste more time. So he had to be careful on his walk up. Rex stopped every once and a while to listen and look around more carefully. He was listening to any sound that would signify a camp and he looked for a sign of fire. It wasn't too cold, but it certainly wasn't warm either. They would need a fire.

He had walked a couple of miles and he was sure that if he kept going he would hit the middle of the mountain soon. Despite all the war and training, his legs were aching from the hard climb and it didn't help that they were tired as he was. He hadn't slept in almost 48 hours.

He kept going though. Ahsoka would have done it for him and he needed to know she was safe, even if it meant going up every damn mountain on Alderaan.

It had been another hour before he saw the path split and Rex was stuck. He didn't have time to go up both, and if he chose one then he would have wasted hours. He remembered a trick though. Rex could remember Cody telling him that often which direction someone goes, even when trying to make it random, they were still going off in the direction of their dominant hand. If that trick held out, Ahsoka would have gone right. It was the only way to make up his mind, so Rex went up the one path, stopping as he did before every once an a while to listen more carefully and take another good look before going on.

He was up the trail before noticing a change in the path. He knelt down and looked carefully. It was colder up here and the ground was harder. Kneeling down, he noticed that the rocks were moved. It had to be recent because they were almost frozen into the ground before and there was still the imprint of the rock in the soil. Someone had moved the rock, most likely by stepping on it, recently. Moving up, the trail more, he noticed a couple more rocks were moved, at least now that he was looking for the tell-tale sign. He knew it was a chance that it might not be Ahsoka and her group, but it was the best lead that he had so far.

Rex had gone up the trail almost another mile before he noticed that for a while the rocks were no longer moved. So, he turned and looked down the trail, hoping to find any tell tale sign of them, but found nothing. He realized that from now he would have to go off path. He went to his right again, knowing that they would have gone that way because going left would mean hitting the other trail and going past it would be a moot point.

The ground was a little bit better to walk on since he wasn't constantly going uphill and he could see down the mountain better.

That was how he noticed the small beacon of light a little down the mountain from him after walking again for another half hour.

He was sure it was them. Who else would be hiding on a mountain this hidden?

Rex walked towards it, keeping an eye out. He would not be surprised if there were scouts along the mountain to watch for people going by. He also didn't know how many people were with her, if it was just the roommates or if they had others who joined them. Ahsoka may have made more friends or her roommates had friends who had something against the Empire too. And he was unarmed while he was sure they would be.

As he got closer, he started walking slower, looking around but not too slowly to look suspicious as though he was hiding. Surprisingly, he made it pretty close before someone heard him coming down along the mountain. He could hear some of their voices and them moving around. He heard a lot of voices and counted at least nine people. At least. He was thinking of ways to let them know he was there before someone heard his own footsteps against the rocks and soon saw a man come out of the group and towards Rex, instantly spotting him.

"STOP!" Rex heard a sharp, harsh voice yell at him, a coarse voice who he recognized as Tilly's, "Stay where you are! Don't move!"

Rex held out his hands and arms and called to out to the shadows in hiding, "I don't mean any harm! I'm alone and my weapon is unloaded!"

There was a quick, sharp movement in one shadow while the others went very stiff.

"Rex?!"

Her voice was enough relief to him. It was proof that she was okay, that she was alive. The light trill and high pitch of her voice made him sigh with relief. She was okay. They took care of her. They protected her.

However, it seemed that no one else in the group had any relief. If anything, recognizing who he was only made them more on edge. The many other voices took his attention now and shadows moved towards him at tight speed. The other voices were harsh, loud, and cold.

"Stay where you are! Don't come any closer!" Shay screamed.

"Slowly take your blaster and place it on the ground!" that was Bellamy's voice.

Rex nodded once to tell them he acknowledged them before he carefully and slowly brought his hands back down. With one hand, he unhooked his blaster and slowly knelt to the ground to drop his blaster. After getting back up, his hands in the air again, the people moved around him again, he saw their own blasters pointed at him. He saw some familiar faces, Shay, Pash, Bellamy, and Tilly being one of them, but he also saw another human male and a male Cerean.

"On your knees!" Tilly ordered him, "hands behind your head!"

As he was moving down to his knees, slowly putting his hands behind his head he saw the familiar horned figure rushing to him. Rex looked up at her, though being weary of all the blasters raised to him. He had no doubt in their stances and tone that they would shoot him if they felt that they needed to.

"Stop!" Ahsoka told them franticly, "put your guns down! He's not a threat!"

"He's a _clone_." Tilly hissed.

"Ahsoka stay away from him!" Pash told her.

Ahsoka didn't listen, pushing past them to get to Rex. Shay tried to grab her arm but Ahsoka anticipated the reaction, moving her arm away and kneeling before Rex to look him over. Rex did the same, their worry for each other matching on their expressions as they looked the other over. Rex noted how tired she looked, and she seemed paler than before. And the brightness in her eyes were dulled. Ahsoka noticed that he looked exhausted as well, but it was from trying to find them, not from a lack of sleep like her. But she looked into his eyes and she saw something: trust. There was a care in those eyes, the relief that she was okay.

Ahsoka took his hands gently and put them down from his head, "he's not a threat."

"Ahsoka!" Bellamy hissed, "he could kill you! He's a _clone._ "

"I'd never!" Rex growled at him while at the same time Ahsoka turned to look at them and said, "he wouldn't!"

"I trust him!" Ahsoka told them, standing up and taking Rex's arm to lead him up as well. Rex followed her, moving slower than she did in case he spooked one of them into shooting the blaster. He didn't know how much experience they had with them and some could accidentally fire without intention, but from a reaction. How some of them held the guns he knew that they knew how to hold it, but target practice was different than this. Just because they got comfortable holding a gun didn't mean they could hit a target well, or they could handle themselves to shoot only when they wanted and for their mind to think it through.

"Those were his orders, Ahsoka." Shay spoke with more reason, trying to deescalate the situation. She continued, "that's what you told us, that's what we saw from Coruscant. The clones turned on the Jedi."

"Not me," Rex said, "I left."

"He wouldn't be here alone if he was." Ahsoka told them in an even voice.

"He could be a distraction, the rest could be coming." Shay told her, keeping her voice even as well.

"I would have sensed them." Ahsoka told her.

"He came here and knew where we were. He was following us." Shay told her.

Ahsoka shook her head, "he was following my trail."

The others looked at each other and Shay sighed, putting two pieces together. She commented after rolling her eyes once, "you left him a clue. Ahsoka do you realize that you basically uplifted everything we did, the whole reason we came here if you left clones a clue where we were going."

"Only Rex would have known what I was saying." Ahsoka told her.

"He could still be a lead for them." Shay told her.

"I trust him." Ahsoka told her, making sure to stay in front of Rex in case a blaster went off.

"You trusted Cody, too, didn't you?" Shay told her. Those words made Rex visibly cringe and he quickly tried to put the thought away. Shay didn't stop though: "and all those other clones. The same clones who killed your friends. Who killed Plo and Luminara!"

"It wasn't their fault." Rex hissed, defending his brothers before he defended himself, "and I left. I tried to stop them."

"How can we believe you?" Bellamy asked, keeping his voice even as well.

Ahsoka looked at all of them, the six people who had blasters aimed at Rex. She took a step closer to Shay and kept her hands out to keep everyone calm. She slowly put her hand on Shay's blaster, to not scare her. Shay understood and let go, giving the blaster to Ahsoka. Ahsoka took it, looking at the other five with their blasters still trained on him. Ahsoka turned and looked at Rex. He stared at her, knowing that she had something up her sleeve.

However, he did not anticipate what she would do.

In a matter of seconds, Ahsoka pushed the blaster into his hands and then moved closer so that it was up against her chest. His eyes almost budged out of his sockets as he gripped the blaster tightly, now in fear. Everyone else immediately put their guns up again and pointing it at Rex. Ahsoka held the end of the blaster to make sure that it wouldn't leave her body.

Ahsoka told the others sternly, "don't shoot him unless he shoots me."

The scene for everyone immediately turned to a quick 180 and everyone's anxiety went up. A blaster was focused on the person they had travelled across systems to keep safe. To them, Rex was still a danger to her, to every Jedi. The group had their hearts in their throats as they saw the scene that many pictured in their nightmares: Ahsoka, their beacon of hope in the galaxy that was starting to crumble under the weight of pure corruption, with a weapon pointed at her, ready to kill. Rex didn't feel his own heart beating as he thought quickly to try and change the situation without accidentally hurting Ahsoka. The Togruta stood there, staring Rex down as he tried to think.

"Ahsoka what are you doing?!" Rex demanded.

"Do your job, Rex!" Ahsoka told him, slightly harsh in almost a demanding tone, "Kill me! Kill the Jedi! Execute Order 66!"

"Put it down, Rex!" Shay yelled at the clone, setting her thumb on the trigger.

Rex tried to move the blaster, but Ahsoka held it to her in a grip that was unfortunately tighter than his, looking Rex in the eyes. Rex was trying to follow everything and keep his mind straight. He was holding a blaster against Ahsoka, people around him, even Ahsoka, barking orders at him with guns up and Force forbid they miss him and hit her. It was a chaotic scene as everyone tried to get a word in.

"Kill me, Rex!" Ahsoka told him, this time more harshly.

"Ahsoka stop!" Rex yelled at her, his chest heaving as he tried to think of a way out of this. He did start to feel his heart now, but it was beating so chaotically and fast in his chest that he didn't know how he could be effectively breathing. He didn't dare move his arm or hand yet, fearing that he might accidentally hit the trigger. He didn't know if they could keep going like this without someone putting a blaster bolt through his side or head.

"Execute Order 66!" Ahsoka told him, stepping into the gun slightly, only making Rex more frantic, "kill the Jedi! It's your job Rex, that's your orders! Kill me!"

"Put down the gun!" Bellamy and Tilly said together.

"Ahsoka let go of the blaster!" Rex told her, his voice slightly frantic, making sure his finger was back from the trigger.

"Follow your orders!" Ahsoka told him.

"Stop it!" Rex yelled at her before he quickly put on the safety of the gun so that it wouldn't accidentally go off when he took it from her. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt Ahsoka. He didn't come all this way to kill her. He came all this way to save her. Rex then quickly moved the gun back from her and quickly threw the gun to the ground, the safety still on to make sure a blast didn't go off from the impact.

Rex was heaving now, staring at Ahsoka and she stared at him silently, a small smile on her face. The atmosphere had immediately turned down again. No one was yelling and guns were pointed but no one had the want to pull the trigger. People felt like they could start breathing again.

Finally, Ahsoka's voice broke the silence in the night.

"I told you," Ahsoka said calmly, "we can trust him."

She looked at the others and pleaded, "Let him stay. He came all this way for me."

Shay stared at Rex as well, eyeing him closely as she thought over the situation. Finally, she told them, "put down your guns. He's not a threat."

Shay brought her own gun down, putting the safety on again. The others stared at Rex for a couple more seconds before they did the same, everyone slowly lowering their blasters again. Ashoka's and Rex's shoulders visibly relaxed together as the tension died down. Shay stared at Ahsoka and sighed before she looked at Rex, "even I'll admit, it's good to see you. We can use all the numbers we can right now."

Rex looked over at Ahsoka and raised his eyebrow.

"For what?" he asks carefully.

Ahsoka stared at him and answered, "a Rebellion."

~.~

And that was how the storytelling started. Rex was sitting near Ahsoka as everyone sat around the fire. Bellamy and Shay were on the other side of Ahsoka as they talked. Some of the group had fallen asleep, taking some rest before taking their shifts later in the night or because they were tired in the late night hours. The two sat near each other so that they could talk quietly to allow others to sleep and have some privacy. Both had questions for each other, but Rex had the story that Ahsoka wanted to know. She wanted to know what went wrong, how everything had just collapsed the way it did.

There was a new danger. When Palpatine took hold there were whispers of fear among the sentient species. He was not known to be well to them, though accepting some, but specific people who did his bidding obediently. Coruscant, a Core World that had housed so many refugees now were moving quickly in case new laws were in place. It was a mass movement, happening almost overnight and things were getting overwhelming. And there were whispers among the people already of what happened, whispers of what happened with the Jedi, if they could trust what Palpatine was saying about the Jedi, who had saved the Republic many times could turn as they did so suddenly. Why would the Jedi take so long to attack from the Separatists if they fought to keep the Republic safe from them, and stay on a Core world with the clones without making an attack. Whispers together were showing stories that weren't adding up, but they didn't know what would happen to those who truly spoke about it. However, people were quick to rebel against an Empire they could already see would not benefit them in any way with a tyrant in quick and dangerous rising.

And Ahsoka wanted to know how it went so wrong so fast. So far Rex was the only person from Coruscant she had seen who could provide at least some answers to her.

Rex wasted no time telling her what he knew and he didn't leave out any detail. He had talked about Fives and the organic chips. He talked about how he spoke with many clones about it. He told her how most didn't believe him. But he told her some did. Then he told her how Kix broke many GAR laws to investigate Fives claims and how he proved them, but it was too late to spread the proof to a widespread of clones. Rex told her of Cody's denial, that he wouldn't believe Kix or Rex even with the proof; how he trusted Obi-Wan so much. He told her how Kix had helped him, Wolffe, and Gregor take out their chips. He told her that there were a few other clones in the Wolfpack and 501st who secretly took out their chips thanks to Kix, but that they were killed in the execution of Order 66 as they were deemed traitors for not following orders. Jesse managed to get out, but Rex had lost all contact with him and had assumed the worse. He told her that there were many clones that came too late, that Kix didn't have enough time to save them. Rex told her how he had planned to take out Kix's chip, but that the medic was too focused on saving others than assuring himself. And Rex told her that it was too late, that he was part of the execution. He told her how he met up with Wolffe and Gregor and they managed to escape to a motel before going off to find her. He told her about Wolffe's conflicting sorrow, how he hated the Jedi for letting this happen and how he didn't save Plo Koon and thinking that some Jedi turned on others and were part of the plan.

Ahsoka stared at him, completely silent as she heard the story. Bellamy and Shay never spoke a word either, but they weren't listening as intently as Ahsoka was. She was almost frozen in place the entire time, eyes widening at some parts, shivering at others…but she was quiet as she heard his story. When he was done, they stared at each other. He could tell that everything was sinking in as she thought about what had happened. Bellamy had started rubbing her shoulders to help comfort her, but it seemed that Ahsoka didn't notice.

Finally, after about a minute of silence, Ahsoka whispered, "how could they not see it? This was a plot from the beginning…"

Rex sighed, "I think it was. Palpatine wanted to bankrupt the Republic and Separatist forces and when the time was right he would end the war…he would kill the Jedi. That was our purpose this entire time, and the ones who died…"

Rex couldn't finish. All those men. All his brothers were killed for nothing. Absolutely nothing but a game. Rex fought because he wanted to stop what had now happened, but he was a pawn in the entire play. He was used and he had never felt so dirty. Learning of the chips and how the Kamonians were forcing docility on them was one thing, but it seemed the Jedi didn't know. At least, his General didn't and therefore he couldn't blame them. He felt like a toy then, but now he was realizing that he never truly knew what that word meant until this.

He had _fought_ so hard for _nothing_. His brothers had _died_ for _nothing_. Everything he knew and lived for was gone.

But then there was the knowledge that he was made to kill Jedi, the Jedi he had fought with for years. They were tools more than he thought.

And he suddenly knew what Ahsoka felt when she was accused of her crime and left the order. Everything for both of them had been a lie, people who they could trust left them, people used them, they were stepped on, and like her Rex found it hard to know who to trust.

Ahsoka sighed before commenting, running a hand down her face, "it…how could they not know? Or did they but think they could stop it?"

"If they did know…I don't know what to tell you. Maybe they didn't want to see, or ignored what they knew could happen." Rex told her.

Ahsoka shook her head. She whispered:

"They were in too deep by then if they did know. They had to let it play out and they could try to control the outcome, but we were in far too deep."

Rex nodded and Ahsoka's mind turned to the clones with the chips still in their heads. What would happen when they realized what they had done? The sorrow and guilt they would have could be something Ahsoka couldn't imagine. She didn't know how this would affect them when they would get out of that trance. Her heart broke for Kix. A small part of her hated how he was so selfless to put his brothers before him on something like this. He worked hard to free them, but he couldn't save himself.

Ahsoka shook her head to get rid of the thoughts so that they wouldn't plague her, but she knew they would. She would never forget what the Empire did to the clones, what they did to Rex. She'd never forget what Palpatine did to her family in the Order and in the clones. She had felt the stab of pain hit her as she felt Plo Koon and Luminary die. She felt the death of Aayla, her confusion before quick death. She felt the fear in the Jedi younglings as they died. She felt everything. And then there was the absence of many in the Force as they pulled away to try and escape the feelings, the death. She didn't know what happened to her Master or to Obi-Wan. She didn't know what happened to Katooni, but she guessed she might have died.

It was her turn though. Rex deserved her story like she his. And she knew he had questions.

Ahsoka told him, "we came to Alderaan because Bail Organa was part of a small group of people, Senator Amidala included, that was trying to take Palpatine off as Chancellor and bring peace to the Galaxy. Padme contacted me about joining, trying to get information from a perspective of one who was in the war and because of my speech at Barriss's trial. I was a little unsure at first, but I had to do something and I had to do it by secret, creating my own new name. But then Order 66 happened. Bail was able to contact us and told us what happened at the Temple as we were watching Galaxy wide holo-reports of the Temple burning, Palpatine making speeches about becoming Supreme Chancellor. We packed that night as light as we could and Bail told us to meet him on Alderaan where we would be safe and wouldn't call on people to look for us as the Jedi were being hunted down. Because he was being watched, we couldn't stay too close, so we are staying here until things die down a little on Alderaan, but I don't know when that will happen. I doubt Bail will stay silent against the Chancellor. Many parties are starting to speak out already. Thankfully no one except a small select people knew about my involvement and no one knows who I am by my other name, but…things are messed up right now. We had to hide in case they did find me. I'm involved more than I ever planned, but I hadn't planned on _this_ happening either. I don't think anyone but the Sith did. I don't think Bail ever planned on a full Rebellion either, even if it is only just getting started. None of us thought it would happen like this."

Rex nodded when she finished, understanding her perspective. He was proud of her for joining a force to go against a bad leader, but also that now she was part of a Rebellion that he knew the Galaxy would need. He was already hearing stories, things that happened on Kashyyyk with the Wookies, whispers of the fear the Supreme Chancellor was already making. But Rex wasn't surprised about Ahsoka's involvement with a Rebellion. Ahsoka fought for good. She always had. And when Jedi were hiding, she wasn't. Or at least, not completely. She was hiding to provide information, but she was still a part of a movement. He knew she was going to be a key component in this Rebellion.

However, Rex thought as he looked at Ahsoka, he didn't know if that's how deep he should be in something yet.

~.~

Not too much time later, Bellamy had convinced Ahsoka to sleep. The Togruta was starting to get more tired as the night progressed and when she started to yawn frequently, everyone used it as evidence that she should get some rest. Shay did the same, getting ready for her next night shift in the next couple of hours after she woke up Tilly and Thayer. They told Rex that he was safe to get some rest as well. Shay assured him that the others wouldn't attack them, but even as Rex laid down and closed his eyes, no sleep came to him. He had listened to quiet snores of the others, of Tilly and Thayer quietly talking.

He thought about Order 66 and of his brothers. He wondered if any of them would think outside of that chip again and think about what they did, but a part of him hoped that they wouldn't because then they would have to live with what they did. The brothers from the 501st would have to live with attacking the Temple and he didn't know if they could live with that guilt. He didn't know if Kix could.

And he thought about Ahsoka and how he was glad she wasn't there and wasn't a target of the clones. He thought about if the Jedi did ever know. Fives had tried to tell Skywalker and Shaak Ti, but maybe it didn't get too far. However Shaak Ti was in the Council, so maybe they did have some idea. Maybe there were clues that they couldn't put together quick enough.

Or, as Ahsoka said, they were in too deep even if they did know.

They were all in two deep and both sides fell head first into it.

Rex hated to admit it, but the tactics of the plan were good, and they worked perfectly. The Republic was looking at the Separatists, and the Separatists were looking at the Republic, but no one was watching the Chancellor. At least not enough. Rex didn't know for sure if he was solely behind the plan with the Sith as his players in the game, but he was definitely a major part in it. A war made both sides go almost completely bankrupt so they needed the war to end to stabilize the economy on both sides, and people were tired of war and he was the saviour who stopped it and saved them. And his extra pawn players, the clones, played their part in killing the people who could have taken him and the Sith down. He kept the Jedi occupied and killed them when it was time. And now, people were rejoicing in this new Galactic Empire because it stopped a war and gave people their lives from it again. But he wondered how long that would last. There were whispers of fear and rebellion, but he doubted it would go long before the Chancellor became a tyrant and whispers would slowly turn to screams.

And from there, Rex wondered if he should be a part of it. He didn't want to hide against the Empire that took so much from him, who used him and if he died then there would be someone else to shoot his General when the time for Order 66 came. But he didn't know if he was ready for starting a rebellion yet. And he knew Wolffe and Gregor wouldn't be ready for that, or that they would necessarily want to be a part of it and Rex didn't want to leave them either. He knew they needed him too. They were the only three clones left that weren't a part of Order 66.

Rex sighed, moving onto his side after laying on his back for so long against the ground before he heard footsteps walking up to him. He opened his eyes and looked up to see Tilly standing over him with a canteen of water held out to him. She sighed and asked in a small voice, "can't sleep?"

Rex stared at her and the canteen for a couple of seconds before he shook his head, moving to sit up.

"Not quite." he admitted, taking the canteen to drink from it.

He never really understood Tilly. Like all the others, she was a bit hard because she was protective, but Tilly was a quick one side to the next and was more protective than most of the others who still joked with him and were peaceful on Denon. She had basically snarled at Rex and his team when they met on Denon, and she had snarled at him tonight. But like later in the clones stay at Denon, she was nice, or at least co-operative towards him. He liked the spirit though, and was pretty sure she had more arm muscle than half of the members of the GAR and he understood her from a point of view but sometimes he didn't know how to act around her. And it seemed that Tilly couldn't quite pick a standpoint on how to view him either because now she sat down in front of him, a calm look on her face.

"I wanted to apologize about how we acted when you first came." Tilly told him, making Rex even more confused about her and her feelings towards him.

Tilly seemed to read Rex's mind, or at least understand the look of confusion and what it meant in his facial expressions before she smiled and explained in a whisper so she wouldn't wake the others, "I can admit when I'm wrong or go too far. We did that today and I want to say sorry for shouting at you. We just didn't know if you were here to hurt Ahsoka."

Rex nodded and handed her back the canteen. She set it on the ground beside her and listened to him when he whispered to her as well.

"I understand. You didn't know what happened. And…I'm glad that she was with you and that you are protecting her. I know she will be safe." Rex admitted. But he was truly glad. As chaotic as the scene when he first arrived was, it proved to him that he knew Ahsoka was in good hands. And he couldn't be mad at the reactions because he knew that he and his brothers would have done the exact same thing if they worried for her safety. It was something they had done before. He was one of Ahsoka's protectors for years and now they were and they were doing a phenomenal job. He had nothing but respect for that because he understood.

He continued, admitting to her his feelings, "I know you care about her. You don't understand how glad I am that she has you to protect her. And I understand why you all did it because for a long time, protecting her, that was _my_ job. I'm glad that my replacements are even better at it."

Tilly smiled and rolled her eyes at the last part before she smirked at him again.

"I can tell you care a lot about her." Tilly told him, "and she you."

Rex shrugged, "we've been through a lot together. You grow close to the people who have saved you on countless occasions and who have fought beside you in the worse of battles. She was my Commander, and as skilled as she was she was too young for the war she was in. And there were times that I thought I failed my promise to protect her, but that I wouldn't give up unless I was sure. There were a few close calls."

Tilly leaned a bit close, slightly curious, "'promise'?"

Rex nodded and looked at the ground. He told her after a couple of seconds, "it was a promise that I made with myself concerning the General too, but Ahsoka was younger and it was different. I promised myself that the only way they would die was because I would be dead first."

He looked up at her to see her in stunned silence. The look in her eyes showed…compassion and care that Rex had never seen in her eyes before, at least not towards him. The brunette smiled softly, moving some of the hair was blew in her face from the wind behind her ear before looked into his eyes and told him: "you are a very admirable person, Rex."

The clone shook his head, not believing her words.

"I failed her though. She left the Jedi Order because I couldn't protect her. She almost died when she went to trial. I failed my promise to her." Rex told the brunette, "because a lot of her had died because of that trial."

Tilly shook her head, "I don't think you realize what you have done. What happened with Ahsoka's trial was not in your hands at all. It wasn't a battlefield. And you coming all the way to Alderaan to make sure she was safe after Order 66 shows that you are still doing your job."

Rex stared at her, not sure how to take her words. He couldn't be there for her anymore, and for a long time he wasn't.

Tilly could see how he still didn't believe her, so she tried a different angle, one that she didn't like to completely admit either. She sighed and brushed more hair behind her ear, crossing her legs.

"Maybe you being here is a really good thing for her." Tilly admitted to him, "more than we could do."

Rex looked over at her in shock and confusion. The fire placed dancing shadows on her face. She didn't look at him, only at her knee as she trailed her finger over it in some kind of design she had in her mind. After a couple of seconds she looks up and looks towards where her brother and Ahsoka. Rex followed her gaze to see the two sleeping. Bellamy was leaned up against a rock with some coat as padding against it while Ahsoka was sleeping on his lap, a blanket over her with his leg being used as a pillow. She was truly sleeping, a look of calm and comfort on her face. Tilly explains to Rex after a couple of seconds what that meant.

"This is the first night where she is actually sleeping," Tilly told him and Rex turned his head to look back at her, "for days she had been having light-headed short naps, nothing more than an hour or two. She hasn't actually slept since Order 66 passed."

The brunette was silent again, her hair moving in the wind as she then turned her head to stare at the fire. Rex stared at the brunette for a couple of moments before looking back at Ahsoka as he thought about what Tilly told him. She was still sleeping, curled slightly in a comfortable position. He could see form the worry lines on her face that they were slowly starting to melt under her peaceful sleep. He now understood why she looked so exhausted when they had first seen each other again hours ago.

Tilly's voice moved him from his thoughts almost immediately.

"Be glad you weren't with her when Order 66 was executed. She could feel their deaths in the Force. We were at home just…laughing and joking around when she suddenly just fell to her knees, clutching her chest. We all thought there was something with her heart, but she just sputtered out 'they're dying'. And she kept repeating it for a couple of minutes before she got more frantic. She kept asking, crying 'what is going on? what's happening?'. She was shaking and…she whispered that Plo Koon was gone and I don't think I've ever heard so much heart ache in someone's voice. Then she felt the younglings' deaths and she was almost sobbing. She was so confused and frantic and we tried getting information from the holonet about what was happening. She didn't understand how the Empire ordered a kill on the Jedi. And we couldn't really help her because we didn't know what was going on or how to console her for deaths that she was physically feeling," Tilly told him.

Rex stared at her, gulping as he thought about the idea of Ahsoka being in so much distress. He didn't think about her feeling the deaths so much. He didn't know the Jedi way with the Force as much as he liked. He didn't know that she would feel their deaths so harshly.

Tilly explained after a small gulp: "…she didn't get much sleep after that. She kept having nightmares. She says that she saw more, that she saw their deaths and it made her more confused about the clones. She kept murmuring about Order 66. She couldn't sleep for more than a couple of hours before her nightmares woke her up."

Rex stared at her and he thought about what he saw and how she was seeing it all too. She might not have been there, but she was a part of Order 66.

And he wasn't there for her.

He felt himself go into his guilt again, but Tilly was a step ahead of him. She turned and placed a hand on his knee. Rex almost jumped a little in surprise, but instead he stared at her. Tilly offered him a comforting smile as she smiled back, "but now you are here, Rex. And she is sleeping soundly and has been the longest she has in days. You gave her comfort by explaining what happened and by coming here so she knew you were okay. She talked about you sometimes, wondering what happened to you because she didn't see anything in her visions or dreams from the execution of the Order. I think she thought you died before it occurred."

Rex could only listen in silence. He didn't know any of this. He didn't know what she could see, how she felt. But they did and they were there for her. That was something Rex would never be able to repay them for.

Tilly continued, hoping to still help Rex with his emotions on staying in the GAR: "I think you dying was something that gave her nightmares. She didn't have a protector against those. But now she does knowing you are safe."

"I have to agree." Shay murmured from a little far away.

Rex and Tilly both turned their heads over to look at her. Even Thayer's attention was caught by the unexpected voice. From the little way she was from them, Rex saw her turn over to her other side to stare at them. She gave them a small smile and forced herself to sit up, the blanket she was wearing rolling down onto her lap.

She gives Rex a smile and tells him, "Tilly is right, Rex. We haven't 'replaced' you. We were added in the role you and your brothers are all a part of. Your job isn't over and I don't think you believe that either. Or else you would have not risked your life going to Denon and then coming here to find her. All of that was to make sure she was safe in a world that was not on a hunt to kill Jedi."

Rex looked away, not sure how to reply to them. He looked at the ground and thought about what they said, but it didn't get too far. She wasn't his Commander and he her Captain and they weren't in the GAR anymore. He wanted to make sure that she was okay, but she already was because of them. Maybe he should have trusted them more.

Shay could see the conflicting on Rex's face. She sighed and told Tilly, "hey, my shift's almost up anyway. You can go to sleep. You were up half the night last night."

Tilly could get the hint that now Shay wanted some words with Rex. So she sighed and nodded, calling her a nickname she didn't like with a grin on her face, "sure, Mom, whatever you say."

Tilly began to walk back to Thayer and Shay groaned, "do _not_ call me Mom!"

Thayer grinned as well, but opened his arms for Tilly when she lowered herself into them to lay beside him and stay warm. He brought up the blanket that she used before and wrapped it around her. Tilly's head rested on Thayer's chest as she curled into him and Thayer held an arm around her to make sure she stayed curled against him comfortably. Rex felt a small piece of jealousy inside of him. Although Rex had never been really close with anyone like that, in the GAR he wouldn't have been able to act that close with anyone, especially so openly. And he didn't have someone like how Thayer and Tilly seemed to care for each other. He watched them with slight fascination as the two of them whispered to each other, smiling and Thayer chuckled at something she said.

Shay took him out of his thoughts and made him jump when she put her hand on his arm. Rex's head spun to see her and she let go of his arm instantly.

"Sorry." She told him.

Rex nodded once to show her he acknowledged it before Shay sighed. She told him, "look…I know we don't know each other at all, but I don't want you to leave here thinking that you failed Ahsoka."

He stared at her, a little surprised.

"Why do you think I'll leave?" he asked.

Shay shrugged, "just a guess, but I think you'll want a bit of a break from the chaos that is the empire right now and I think that is more than fair. The system you fought so hard for was more than cruel to you. It treated you like expendable objects more than living beings and that isn't right. It never will be."

She sighed before continuing, her voice a little softer, "and I understand why you want some space, some time to yourself…Honestly, Rex I understand your viewpoint a lot more than you think and I have always known in a lot of ways what you and your brothers were going through and how the Empire treated you without giving you any rights."

Thayer and Tilly's attention was caught as well, wondering if she was going to admit to him what only a small handful of people knew. Not even everyone in the circle around the fire knew what Shay was about to reveal.

Rex, however, was hooked on every word. He wanted to know what she was talking about and why the other two were so suddenly interested. He stared at Shay and asked after a couple of seconds, "how?"

Shay stares at him for a couple of seconds and Rex can see her weighing an idea in her mind about how she would answer him. In the end, he sees her move to take off her coat. When she moves up the side of her shirt, Rex tenses slightly from natural reaction from being in the war and keeping his respectful distance from seeing any woman's more…covered areas. But when she pulls up her black shirt, showing the skin above her right hip, he sees a mark.

No.

It was a brand.

A brand that was burned into her skin

He stares at it for a couple of seconds before staring at Shay, knowing what it meant without her needing to say a word to explain it. Shay stares back at him, her eyes locking in his. She tells him as she pulls down her shirt again and puts on her coat: "No one has the right to own someone else. _No one._ "

He stares at her, now completely silent. His breathing was shallow as he began to think. He never really thought of himself as property, though he knew that he and all his brothers were. They were made like products and bought by the Republic to do as they wished. They could be taken away, moved, killed or reconditioned at the hands of the Republic or Jedi without question. They technically weren't people to many. They didn't have rights.

Shay can see him thinking and she interrupts his thoughts by telling him, "I'll never forgive the Empire for creating their own slaves. When I learned that the Republic paid the Kaminians for you, that was when I lost all faith in the Republic. Everything they say they were against they suddenly did. They made you. They made your brothers. They made slaves to do their bidding and they thought of you as toys to do whatever they want. You were a wall for them to make sure that the droids and Separatists didn't get through. You were thought to be expendable, nothing more than just things to take bullets to save the Republic and try to shoot down the opponent. And now that I've heard what they did, putting those chips in your head…"

The Twi'lek shook her head. She sighed and looked to Rex again.

"You and your brothers _are not things_ ," Shay told him sternly. "You never were. The fact that you were used to kill your friends does nothing but make me sick to my stomach because you are not _toys_. It might not have been the Republic on that occasion, but…I never liked the situation. You became slaves and you were used by them and so many thought it was fine. You might not have had a brand, or chains around your neck, but you were property. I lost faith in the Republic a long time ago and it's why I have a soft spot for you and your brothers, Rex. You did nothing wrong, purposely at least. I'm sure the remaining Jedi will forgive you."

He stares at her before shaking his head. He had never heard someone say that to him, at least not so deliberately. He was always a product of the GAR, but for the first time someone word for word told him he wasn't. He knew Ahsoka and other Jedi didn't feel the same way as the Kamonians and higher Republic officials, but no one ever told him specifically those words like she did. It was a shock, but it was also warm. There are words that echo in his head.

 _He was not a thing._

 _None of us are._

He sighs, taking in her last words slowly before he answers the Twi'lek, "it's not the rest of the Jedi I want forgiveness from."

Shay smiled a little. She told him, her voice soft and full of comfort that Rex hadn't heard before and saying words that gave him the most comfort right now, "She's not mad at you or any of your brothers. She never was."

Rex lifted his eyes slowly from the fire to stare at her. She offered him a small smile before her eyes turned to Ahsoka and Bellamy, who were sleeping soundly together against their packs. Rex followed her gaze, but he only stared at the Togruta who was sleeping soundly. He heard Shay tell him, "she cares a lot about you and your brothers. I think she was crying because of what was happening to all of you too."

Of course she was. Ahsoka had always cared about the clones. Rex, the 501st, and many of the other clones had always admired her because not only did she see them as people, she saw them as her equals in the end, that her life was no greater than theirs. And although many other Generals believed in the first principle, the latter was not always so widely accepted. He didn't want to imagine Ahsoka worrying about the clones and what was wrong with them because in the end, it was them who killed her Jedi family and who had killed many of the de-chipped clones. Rex still had his own conflicting feelings about what happened, but what he least wanted was Ahsoka worrying about what was happening with them when they were part of the plot.

But he didn't want to leave her and he didn't know if he could stay.

Shay watched Rex, knowing that he was thinking hard about something and she could guess what it was. Shay draw him out of his thoughts before he could think too much more about the subject.

"Rex," Shay told him softly, "you don't need to stay. Ahsoka won't make you stay if you don't want to. You have a choice, Rex; one that you always should have had. Not staying with Ahsoka now won't mean that you are not her protector or friend, that you are getting rid of any ties you have with her. You came all this way just to make sure she was okay. You two still protect each other and I think you always will. You are a good friend, Rex, but you need to stop doing things for other people and start doing things for yourself. I know that it's weird, believe me I know, but you need to start doing things for yourself. You have a choice to stay or leave and you and I both know that Ahsoka won't fault you if you go."

He had never heard anyone tell him that. He was never told to exercise his own choice before, or that he really had one. All his life it was ingrained that he was a soldier of the Republic, not for the Republic, _of_ one. He didn't want to pry into her personal details, but he knew that the two of them had been in somewhat similar circumstances.

Her words echoed in his mind. _You and your brothers were not things._

She knew what that feeling was and she was just the person he needed to talk to.

He gave her a small smile.

"You're an amazing leader, Shay," he told her.

She gave him another smile.

"Pep-talks are kind of my forte…next to my mechanic skills." Shay told him before shrugging. She commented to him, "I never really meant to be a leader, it just kind of happened. I don't really want to push that title of myself. I see this group…our participation in the rebellion so far as a group working together, not me or anyone else over another. We turn to each other a lot of the time and I think in the end that is how it should be. There may be a title given to someone, but they should not be put above everyone by too much, which was another reason why I didn't like the set up of the GAR with you and the others."

He nodded before telling her, "I would have been proud to serve with you."

Shay gave him another smile.

"You too." Shay told him, "if you decide to stay, of course."

He nodded, thinking for a moment before he sighed.

"I don't know how to tell her." Rex admitted.

"She won't be offended." Shay told him gently, "you know that. I think that it's more you don't want to leave her."

He stared at her for a moment before nodding, admitting his feelings to her. He was never this open, but this Twi'lek knew what words to say, what prompts to make, and sometimes what needed to be said to help people come to terms with their own thoughts and determine what needed to be for themselves. Rex had done it many times with his brothers, but always had a hard time doing it with himself.

Rex told her, "we've been through a lot together."

Shay nodded, "I don't know specifically what that is like, what you two have been through, but just because you are separated physically does not mean that you aren't loyal to each other."

He nodded, taking her words in, but he wasn't so sure still about what to do. Shay seemed to know this, reading his emotions again. She tells him her voice still soft, "sleep on it, Rex. You and Ahsoka can talk in the morning. And by then you might know what you want to do."

The clone stared at her for a moment before he nodded. Shay gave him a smile and told him, relaxing a bit more as she leaned against her pack. Her back was pressed up against it, relaxing as she looked up at the stars to entertain herself until her shift was up. Rex had also laid back on the ground, looking up at the stars as well. He sighed. For so many years he had gotten used to sleeping on the ground in his armour that now he wasn't it felt odd.

He tried to get into another position, going at his side and resting his head on his arm. He saw Shay laying there and a little far away he saw Tilly sleeping soundly in Thayer's arms. He moved his head a bit and looked slightly farther away to see Bellamy and Ahsoka still asleep, one of the new boys close and sleeping as well. The scene was peaceful. The fire, the soft air of the mountains, the group family, the safety…it was so calming.

He looked at Ahsoka again. He knew that she was safe here, with them. They had taken care of her when she really needed someone and pulled her up from what he hoped would be her darkest time. They had moved her to safety with the fear of Order 66. They gave up everything on Denon to come here with her.

Rex looked towards Shay and Thayer again and he tells them, "I'm glad that she has you."

Thayer gave him a smile as a silent thank you. Shay only grinned, looking up at the sky for a couple of seconds before turning to look at him. She told him,

"Funny, I was about to say the same thing about you."

~.~

The next morning Rex had woken up after everyone, catching up on his lack of rest in the past couple of days and the journey of climbing up the mountain. It was so bright on the mountain, as though in direct contact with the sun, Rex was surprised that he slept so late. It was later morning and Rex was always up at the crack of dawn no matter what planet he was on, with or without seeing the sun.

Looking around, he noticed that many others in the group were still sleeping and that a couple, a small group of four or five, were gone. Tilly and Thayer were included in that. But he saw Ahsoka sitting beside Shay and Pash. The three of them were in discussion about something. Looking around he saw that Bellamy was still asleep while some of the others awake were talking with each other, but the one between Ahsoka, Shay, and Pash seemed to be more complex and deep matters. He guessed from all the things they mentioned last night that it was about this Rebellion that they were a part of.

From the change of movement, Ahsoka looked up and she saw him awake. Rex couldn't help but smile back when he saw her face light up even though he knew he was going to break the news to her soon that he was leaving. He didn't know if Wolffe and Gregor were still on Coruscant, but he could only hope they would at least wait to hear from him before leaving or they would stay in one place to make up a plan together.

"You're up!" she answered before looking to a backpack near the now out fire pit. "There are some ration bars in the pack if you're hungry."

A military food, something he wouldn't miss.

He got up and went to the pack anyway, taking a bar to eat it. He hadn't ate for days and he wouldn't complain about what to eat as long as it was food. And as unsavoury as the taste was, it would keep him until he could get back to Coruscant. At least, if he could. He didn't know if he could afford a ship back, but he would have to try.

Ahsoka looked at him and Shay looked at him too. Rex caught her eye and in unspoken terms, Shay understood. Rex wanted to get this done before Ahsoka got her hopes up too much. The Twi'lek turned to Ahsoka and told her, "why don't we leave you alone, to talk you know?"

Ahsoka nodded. Rex nodded as well before turning to Shay and giving her a discrete, quick nod. Shay gave him a small smile back before getting up and taking Pash's arm to make sure he came too. When they were alone, or at least it was the two of them in a separate bubble to the others around them, Ahsoka moved closer to Rex, sitting in front of him. Rex was finishing off his ration bar and Ahsoka stared at him. When he was done, Ahsoka surprised him.

"You're not staying." Ahsoka commented.

Rex didn't know how she knew that, but he knew he shouldn't be surprised. He had known Ahsoka for years and she was always full of surprises and she always seemed to know everything, especially when it came to him.

Rex sighed and looked down at his hands before looking up at her.

"I'm not ready for this right now, Ahsoka." he admitted. "I just got out of a war, one that killed a lot of my brothers. I don't have it in me to go into another right now. And there's Wolffe and Gregor and I know they can't do it either. We need time. I need to be separate from war. I need to go in at my own choice. I finally have free choice to do that and I need to speak my choice that I'm not ready for this again. I'm sorry."

Ahsoka shook her head.

"Don't be sorry. I understand. It's a big thing to take on." Ahsoka told him. "I'm not going to force you to stay. If you need to go then you need to go."

Rex didn't understand why he was so worried last night about telling her. Maybe it was his own fears that he was leaving her, again. But she would be okay. She could take care of herself. And she had them and he trusted them. He would trust anyone who would go to these lengths to keep Ahsoka safe, who would just pack up their things and go to Alderaan and camp up in the cold mountains.

"Did you hear Shay and I talking last night?" he asked.

Ahsoka shook her head but she smiled.

"No, I didn't. But I had a feeling when you were talking about free choice." Ahsoka answered. "I'm guessing that she told you her history then?"

"Not all of it." Rex answered, "she just showed me that she was…"

Rex didn't know if he wanted to say it. Ahsoka just nodded in understanding.

"Yeah, she gave me that kind of speech too. Of course there were some differences, but…I get it." Ahsoka told him.

Rex watched her stand up and she held out a hand for him. He took it and she helped him up. He stared at her, feeling slightly guilty. He knew this was their goodbye.

Ahsoka moved to the pack and leaned down and took out some more ration bards and a handful of credits. She went back to Rex and gave him the ration bars.

"Here, for the trip back to Coruscant. I know that you are trying to stay hidden, trying not to have too many people see your face. At least this will keep you until going back to Coruscant." Ahsoka told him, "and this is reimbursement for making the trip to Denon and here."

She took his other hand and poured the credits in them. Rex sighed and closed his fist.

"Ahsoka, you don't need to give me this." Rex told her.

"I want to," she answered, a small smile coming to her lips. She could feel his guilt and she didn't want to make this harder than it needed to be. "Rex, you came across _systems multiple times_ just to make sure that I was okay and no one was after me. I've never had a greater friend."

He stared at her. That word almost shook him. She wasn't a Commander to him. Honestly, that title had left her a long time ago for him. She was his _friend_. She was _family_ just as much as his brothers. That was how she understood why he had to leave, just as much as he understood why she had to stay.

"You know that if you ever need me I'll be there." Rex promised her.

Ahsoka nodded.

"I know," she answered simply, because she did already know.

Rex nodded once before moving his own pack and putting it on his back after putting the ration bars in.

"I…I should get going. Wolffe and Gregor are probably waiting for me." Rex answered her. "We have our own journey to plan."

Ahsoka nodded.

"Good luck." Ahsoka told him, "all of you. And stay safe. If I find out anything happened to you I'll go into the afterlife and kill you again for it."

That made him crack a smile. Ahsoka smiled too. Smiles. That was how she wanted this goodbye to go.

"I'll be sure," Rex told her, "but I expect the same thing with you. I may not have special Jedi powers but you know I have enough determination to always find a way."

Ahsoka smiled and nodded.

"Fair." Ahsoka told him. As reality came back a split second later, she forced her smile not to falter. "I mean it Rex, stay safe."

Rex nodded and sighed.

"I know. You stay safe too, Littl'un. I _know_ you can do this." Rex told her.

A true smile came to her face again. She knew this was it. She stared at him, thinking about something, but then deciding against it. Rex stared at her too before he told her.

"Goodbye, Littl'un." Rex told her.

"Goodbye, Rex." Ahsoka told him.

They stared at each other for a couple more seconds before Rex moved past Ahsoka. The Togruta stared at the spot where he was for a moment, knowing that all of the people around them were looking at her. She didn't want to think about them though and turned around.

Ahsoka watched him walk away, feeling him and his own signature getting farther and farther away. She almost went after him, but she knew that she couldn't. She knew that if she needs him Rex would come back and the same for her to him. She was sure she would see him again. Some things you just know for certain. If she knew, though, that she wouldn't see him for over fifteen years, she would have given in and hugged him goodbye.


End file.
